Sands of the Human Order
by Masterdude21
Summary: "There sat a lonely man, the only one not knowing how, not knowing why he was the only one left. What lay ahead was certainly impossible." The Servants turn to the Master for guidance. The Master turns to his Servants for salvation. As the Grand Order rages on, Ritsuka Fujimaru struggles with the horrors of the war for humanity's future. (Partial novelization of Fate/Grand Order)
1. Prologue

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

An icy wind howled through the barren, frozen peaks that concealed the Chaldea Security Organization. The vast mountains and tall peaks surrounding the Organization served as her physical protection, though they were far from Chaldea's only protective measures.

The young Master stood between two of the smaller, flatter peaks of the mountain range, digging to the dull glare of the breaklights Doctor Roman had collected for him. The cold wind chilled him to his core. Chaldea's standard winter uniforms were meant to keep personnel from freezing to death, not to keep them comfortable in the sub-zero temperatures of an arctic tundra.

Ritsuka plunged his shovel back into the snow. The hole was ragged and a bit uneven. Not at all the way he had visualized it. Even now, he just couldn't get things right. If she could see what a mess he made out here, she would have lectured him all day.

_I'm sorry._

Another shovel of snow. The wind continued to tear at his clothes, scraping past the raw, exposed skin of his face. He picked up the pace now, his muscles straining and aching.

He could feel Mash staring at him from a distance, watching for any sign of hypothermia. He wasn't sure she understood why he wanted to do this – why he _needed _to do this – but she didn't protest. She never did.

...there were so many people dead.

Ritsuka stared at the shallow grave in front of him. This shouldn't have happened. None of this should have happened. The image of Olga screaming and crying as Lev flung her into CHALDEAS, resenting and lamenting how nobody acknowledged her, how nobody praised her in the end…

Why? Why did Lev do it? Did he just want to see humanity suffer? Well, they were suffering alright. The sabotage left more than two-hundred people dead. Only nineteen people survived the accident. Right now, some of them were wishing they didn't.

Ritsuka let out a shuddering sigh. He was exhausted. Mash and he worked the entire night to get the Guardian Heroic Spirit Summoning System working again, while Da Vinci and Doctor Roman took stock of Chaldea's remaining supplies and functioning systems. Da Vinci had told him that there wasn't time to worry about the little things. That they needed to start summoning Heroic Spirits as soon as possible.

He tightened his grip on the shovel's handle, forcing himself to keep digging. For the longest time, he focused on his own laboured breathing and burning muscles, until he noticed that his hands were going numb.

Fearing that he would only mess things up if he continued digging now, Ritsuka planted the shovel deep into the snow and took a step backwards to survey his work. He'd have to come back here after they patched the headquarters up, to make sure that the constant wind wouldn't wipe this spot away. Afterwards, he'd -

A hand touched his shoulder, shaking Ritsuka from his thoughts. He whipped around to see Mash standing next to him, garbed in a white parka. Her face was exposed too, but she didn't seem any worse for wear. Her warm, violet eyes gazed at him from behind her glasses.

"That's good enough, Senpai," she said with a little smile. "I think the Director would be happy, if she could see how hard you worked."

Ritsuka tried to answer her smile with one of his own. He couldn't muster the strength. "I-It'll have to do," he replied, hoping that Mash didn't notice how unsteady his voice sounded.

She gently reached out and reached for his wrist. "Doctor Roman needs us at the summoning chamber, Senpai. We should head back inside."

The summoning chamber…they finally got the FATE system working?

"A-Already?" Ritsuka asked through chittering teeth. The idea of finally being able to summon Servants – legendary warriors from the past – made him forget about the exhaustion and cold.

"Yes!" Mash eagerly replied. "We should try it out immediately."

Ritsuka didn't need to be told twice. He transferred the shovel to his left hand and took a couple of wavering steps in Chaldea's direction. His knees buckled at the third step and he stumbled forwards, his feet slipping away in the snow.

Mash caught him in an instant, carefully pulling him back on his feet. "Are you alright, Senpai?" She asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Just tired, is all," He mumbled. For a moment, he wondered if he overworked himself too much. Then again, some things were more important than exhaustion and discomfort. Some things were worth overstraining yourself for.

As Ritsuka Fujimaru followed the demi-Servant across the frozen wasteland, he cast one more glance over his shoulder, staring at the first tombstone of Chaldea's graveyard.

_OLGA MARIE ANIMUSPHERE_

_FALLEN, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN_

Ritsuka clenched his fists and raised his head. He would shoulder the burden of Chaldea and humanity's future. He would honour the deeds and memories of the dead and restore humanity's future, no matter the cost.

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

"All systems functioning as intended. The offerings are in place."

Ritsuka nodded in confirmation. The outer rim of the circular summoning chamber slowly spun around the middle of the chamber; an elaborate, shimmering cross engraved with intricate lines and text. Twelve pale orbs of light floated lazily above the summoning circle, vaguely pulsating with energy. Within the room's very centre, a floating sphere of blue light slowly manifested.

"The FATE system is ready," Doctor Roman said. "We're waiting for your go, Ritsuka."

Ritsuka stepped towards the circle and extended his right arm, his fist clenched. He began focusing on his breathing, keeping himself calm and composed. As humanity's last Master, he didn't want to show an ounce of weakness. "Do it."

Within the summoning chamber's control room, one of the staff members pulled a lever and typed in the string of code that released the artificial safety constraints of the summoning chamber.

Immediately, a surge of energy exploded within the centre of the room. A loud humming noise emanated from the central sphere even as the smaller balls of light began spinning faster and faster. Then, they seemed to lose their form as the light formed a band of white around the chamber's core.

Large arcs blue light erupted from the central sphere like bolts of lightning. Ritsuka was forced to take a step backwards when the torrent of energy grew even more unstable. A single column of energy spiked upwards, a river of volatile prana. The room quivered and shook under the stress of the ritual, but its reinforced structure held.

The rumbling died down as suddenly as it starred. The blinding light slowly faded away as the outer layer of the summoning circle began to slow down. When the light faded to a soft glow, the outlines of a person became visible; a well-built male wielding a spear.

Moments later, the light faded enough that the newly arrived Servant became visible to the gathered staff members. The Servant opened his eyes – piercing, blood-red eyes – and glanced around the room. His calm, resolute gaze passed over the staff member at the control room, over Doctor Romani and Mash, before finally settling on Ritsuka himself.

Then, the Servant flashed him a wolfish grin.

"Lancer-class Servant!" He loudly exclaimed. He was clad in dark blue body tights, up-armoured with shoulder pauldrons and an abdominal plate. He wore his blue hair in a long tail, greatly resembling the Caster from Fuyuki. A crimson spear manifested within his right hand, which he held in a loose grip. "I have been summoned and come at your request. If you're my Master, let's take this easy!"

Ritsuka nodded firmly, ignoring the urge to grin and shout with triumph. It worked! The FATE system worked! "Welcome, Lancer. I am Ritsuka Fujimaru, your new Master."

Lancer stepped out of the summoning circle and strode towards Ritsuka. "Seems I've been summoned by quite the young Master! Mind telling me what the hell's going on?"

Ritsuka took a breath. This was different from meeting Mash for the first time. There was something bestial about this Lancer, something that told him he had to be careful. "There's a lot to talk about, Lancer. At the very least, I welcome you into Chaldea."

He then extended his hand towards the Servant, who cocked an eyebrow at the sight.

Lancer smirked and grabbed his hand. "This Holy Grail War feels different in scope. Hah, whatever. Nice to meet ya, Master!"

Ritsuka felt a measure of relief wash over him. It felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Finally Mash would be getting some _real _support. "I'll escort you to your room, Lancer. Come with me."

Not every part of Chaldea had been damaged by Lev's treachery. Many of her blue-tinted hallways were still pristine, their emblems and glass decorations left completely intact. That made navigating Chaldea's interior somewhat difficult, as the facility was meant to be crewed by many hundreds of mages, technicians and other staff members. And since every staff member required their own private room as well, there was a lot of ground to cover.

As it was, Ritsuka took to navigating the hallways using an electronic map. Officially, Doctor Roman was in charge of Chaldea as her acting Director. However, Da Vinci said that when it came to Servants, Ritsuka had the final say.

What that really meant, Ritsuka didn't know. He guessed he'd find out eventually. "Humanity is gone, Lancer. Something happened that…that destroyed our future. This place is the last remaining bastion."

"Sounds serious," Lancer replied, sounding rather nonchalant. He cast a sideways glance at one of Chaldea's symbols engraved on the wall. "So how do we fix that?"

_Straight to the point_, Ritsuka thought. He mentally reviewed the things Doctor Roman told him, but something told him that Lancer wasn't the type who would listen to long-winded theories. "There are points in our history that were altered – corrupted – by the enemy. These ehm…these instabilities are the cause of the incineration of our future. Chaldea calls them Singularities. Our mission is to travel into these Singularities and restore them."

"By the enemy…" Lancer repeated. He looked back at Ritsuka, staring at him with his piercing gaze. Then, he smirked again. "We're fighting for the future of humanity? Those are some long odds, Master. I can definitely work with that."

Ritsuka nodded, appreciating how confident the Servant sounded. _Wonder how much Lancer already knows, now that he's been summoned? _He decided to change the subject somewhat, and said, "We don't have a lot of accommodations right now. The engineering department is busy with…damage control, I believe. Still, Da Vinci assured me that the living quarters are largely undamaged. Your room should be right around here."

When the two of them rounded the corner, Ritsuka was struck with the realization that all rooms were identical to his own. That was to say, most rooms in this hallway used to belong to the other Master candidates.

For a moment, he found himself thinking back to the bodies Chaldea still had to bury. The people left dead in the accident's wake. There wasn't enough actual snow around Chaldea's mountain range. Not enough room to -

Lancer nudged his shoulder. "You know I can remain in spirit form, don't you Master?"

Ritsuka took a breath. He had to remain focused on the task at hand. "We've got room to spare, Lancer. You're welcome to use it. Here, let me show you."

He moved to undo the door's electronic lock. However, Lancer raised his hand, gesturing for him to stop. "Actually Master, I think I'll stick around like this for a while. Get a feel for the place, you know?"

Ritsuka didn't make eye contact. He wasn't sure what Lancer's motivations were, but he felt like he could trust the blue-clad warrior. "Tell me something about yourself, Lancer," he asked, deciding on a bolder approach.

Lancer shrugged in response. "If it means completing the mission, I won't hesitate to kill whoever stands in our way. Just don't bother me with tedious stuff, and we'll be fine."

Ritsuka thought he could detect something in his tone, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. "We'll keep summoning Servants to aid us in this fight, Lancer. Do you think you can work in a team?"

With one gesture, Lancer summoned a wicked-looking spear into his hands. The spear exuded an aura of malice and power. Blood-red, adorned with spikes and thorns, it was impossible to mistake the weapon for anything but a Noble Phantasm.

"We're fighting for humanity's future, right?" The Lancer loudly proclaimed. With a flurry of red, he transferred the spear two a two-handed position, aiming its barbed head at an invisible opponent. "So I'll follow your orders and go wild whenever you want!"

Ritsuka nodded in acceptance, though he didn't think the Lancer truly answered his question. "That's good to hear. I'll show you your room, then you can help us clear out the rubble. There's still a lot to do."

With a sigh, the Servant scratched himself behind his head. "Aah…guess there's no helping it. This place really is a mess."

_You have no idea,_ Ritsuka thought.

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

The Chaldea Security Organization was made up of numerous facilities that were responsible for managing and supplementing the base's operations. In the aftermath of the disastrous accident, more than half of these facilities had suffered extensive or even catastrophic damage.

However, walking alongside Doctor Roman, Ritsuka couldn't keep the amazement out of his voice upon hearing what _kind _of facilities Chaldea's headquarters contained. Destroyed or not, the degree to which Chaldea had blended magic with technology boggled the mind. "You're saying the FATE system doesn't just summon Servants, but their weapons as well?"

Roman hesitated for a moment. "Hmmm…not quite. Generator Complexes One and Two provide a mixture of normal and thaumatergical energy respectively. Since Two took a heavy hit during the accident and the backup Complexes were completely knocked off the grid, the FATE system doesn't work as intended."

"But we still managed to summon Lancer," the young Master pointed out.

"We did," replied Roman. "But that's not what I meant. Right now, the FATE system doesn't function _properly_. Engineering is still looking into it, but it looks like it cannot interpret a Servant's legend specifically enough. By that I mean FATE will attempt to summon the concept of "a legend"."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning the results could vary to a large degree. Instead of Lancer, you could have summoned a concept associated with him."

Two staff members rushed past them, one of them carrying a computer screen and the other a pouch containing several pieces of equipment. They briefly stopped to acknowledge the Doctor and the Master before hurrying on their way.

Judging by their dress code, they were staff members from Engineering.

"A concept?" Ritsuka repeated, looking at the two engineers as they ran towards an unknown destination. "Like his weapon?"

"That, or a mystic code, or a tool or item once used by him. My point is, bringing in reinforcements is going to be trickier than we thought."

Ritsuka knew he had a manual stashed somewhere in his room, detailing the precise layout of Chaldea and all of her facilities. Maybe he could download the digital version as well? He didn't have the foggiest idea what the Doctor meant with "Generator Complexes".

He adjusted his uniform, suddenly feeling nervous. He was humanity's one and only Master. He bore the burden of mankind's future, but what if he wasn't fit to do so?

Oblivious to Ritsuka's uneasiness, Roman continued. "…which is why we should be able to use those materials to repair our facilities, and perhaps improve upon their existing designs. But I think I'm getting ahead of myself."

"Probably," Ritsuka agreed. He stifled a yawn and reached for his datapad, checking the time. "It's been six hours since we summoned Lancer. Do you think…?"

Roman offered him a sad smile. "I'm afraid not. We need the reserve power for when Da Vinci locates the next Singularity. Besides; you look exhausted. Mash told me you spent most of the morning outside? You told me you would only be gone for ten minutes or so."

Ritsuka winced. He knew that Mash would talk to Doctor Roman eventually, but this was kind of soon. "That's ehm…not important. Just some…work. I lost track of time."

The Doctor cocked an eyebrow when he heard that. "Work?" He asked, his voice gentle. "Ritsuka, the temperatures and wind speed can be lethal if you're caught off guard. You know you can't risk your health like that."

Gritting his teeth, Ritsuka dropped his gaze to the floor. "I should have told you, I know. It's just…it was something I _had _to do. I…"

Roman simply placed a hand on the Master's shoulder. He didn't sound reproachful, nor did he look upset. "I understand. Believe me, I do. These are difficult times for all of us. If you want to talk, you could drop by my office tomorrow. For now, I think we could all benefit from a good night's sleep."

Ritsuka thought about the pros and cons of dropping by Doctor Roman's office. He was pretty sure that Roman had more important things to worry about. Besides; this wasn't something he wanted to talk about. "Sleep sounds like a good plan. I'll drop by Lancer first, see how he's doing. "

At that, the good Doctor smiled. "I'm hearing positive things about Lancer. He's a tremendous help in the Central Control Room; with his Strength parameters, we'll have cleared most of the rubble in no time at all."

"That's good to hear," Ritsuka sighed. _That's at least one problem that can be solved. _"We'll pick things up tomorrow."

"Hopefully we'll have some good news by then," Roman agreed. "A couple of minutes ago, SHEBA noticed some irregularities in Europe."

Ritsuka frowned. If he recalled correctly, it was the SHEBA mechanism that located Singularity F in Fuyuki. "Another Singularity?"

"Most likely. We still don't have a time or place, however, but I think we'll have something by tomorrow. Grab some sleep, Ritsuka. I think you'll need it."

"Doctor's orders?" Ritsuka quipped, crossing his arms.

Roman smirked. "As the acting director of Chaldea, I technically outrank you."

Ritsuka simply rolled his eyes.

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

_Hate. Hatred burned within her heart. The fires of hell blackened her soul and tainted her with a searing fire she knew could never be extinguished. It shaped her. Consumed her. Buried beneath that hatred, smouldered a festering desire for vengeance. _

…_vengeance. Yes…the fury that fuelled her actions was ignited by a burning desire for vengeance. She hated. She resented. She vowed retribution. With the fire that raged within her, she would lash out at the world. Tear it down, tear it down to its foundations. She would hunt and she would kill and she would burn. _

_Hatred. Resentment. Retribution. _

"_If there is a God…then surely…"_

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Ritsuka woke with a start. He lay still in his bed for several long moments, blinking drowsily. He had dreamt quite vividly. Images of fire still played within his mind whenever he closed his eyes. He felt…off. Like something was missing. Almost like…

"Fou? Fou!"

Something soft and warm moved around on his chest. Ritsuka glanced down at the little, furry creature on his stomach. In that instant, he forgot what he had been thinking about, and merely smiled.

"Good morning Fou. What are you doing here?"

The white-furred creature yelped as it jumped up and down, before suddenly leaping off his bed. A moment later, the door to his room opened.

"Good morning, Senpai."

Mash wore the same uniform she wore the day before, with a red tie and a black sweater underneath her white coat. Before she could enter the room properly, Fou all but tackled her into the wall.

"Eek!" She cried out as the little creature rubbed his head against her hands. "Sorry Fou, I couldn't get out of the way. Still, it's good to see you're so full of energy this early in the morning. You too, Senpai. Did sleep well last night?"

"Well enough," Ritsuka replied. He swung his legs out of bed and looked around for his pants. He distinctly remembered dropping them somewhere next to his bed last night. "What's going on?"

"I know you just woke up, but it's briefing time," Mash explained. "We should hurry."

Briefing…briefing…

_Singularity._

Suddenly, Ritsuka was wide awake. "I'll be there in a sec, wait up…"

He quickly gathered his clothes and put on his uniform. He was halfway through tying the laces of his boots when he heard someone speaking to him.

'_Yo, Master. Something's up.'_

Ritsuka frowned. "Lancer?" It sounded like the Servant was right beside him, but the only person currently in his room was Mash.

'_Yeah. Looks like your Doctor just found some idiot running a Singularity. Want to go punish them a little? _

"I…yeah, that's the plan," Ritsuka replied, glancing at Mash. The mental link between Servant and Master still took some getting used to. "You should probably head over to the Control Room."

'_Got it. Catch you there soon, Master.'_

They reached the Central Control Room a couple of minutes later. Doctor and Da Vinci were already down there, bowed over a holographic console and discussing whatever they saw. Lancer stood in the far left corner, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

Upon hearing the elevator arrive at its station, the Doctor turned around. "Ah, good morning Ritsuka. Did you sleep well?"

"Better than last night," the Master replied. "What's going on?"

"Yeah, let's get right into the briefing. You remember our primary objective, don't you?"

"The investigation and correction of the Singularities," recited Ritsuka. "Why?"

"Because, after much discussion, Da Vinci and I discovered a secondary objective," the Doctor stated, his expression grim. "And that is to investigate the Holy Grail."

Ritsuka crossed his arms. "You lost me."

"This is just speculation, but we believe the Singularities to be related to the Holy Grail," Roman explained. "The Holy Grail is a relic that can grant wishes; a vessel carrying tremendous amounts of magical energy. Lev probably got his hands on the Grail and misused its power."

Ritsuka felt his mood sink. A device like that sounded extremely difficult to overcome. He shot a sideways glance at Mash, who seemed equally daunted by the task.

"What can you tell us about the Grail?" He asked.

"You will run into intel regarding the Grail during your investigation of the Singularity," continued the Doctor. "Even if you correct history, leaving the Grail will put us back at square one. You must either secure the Grail, or destroy it."

There were a dozen questions Ritsuka wanted to ask. Could the Grail be recognized? How did you destroy it?

As Roman continued to explain the mission parameters, explaining about leylines and summoning circles, Ritsuka couldn't help but feel like he was missing something important. He remained quiet however; he was sure Da Vinci would get to that.

"What we need," Mash said, speaking up for the first time, "Is a place to relax. A base of operations where we can come back to when we need to recover. Right, Master?"

"I agree. We'll be counting on you," Ritsuka replied.

His comment seemed to startle her; a red blush crept on her cheeks and she hastily readjusted her glasses. "H-Hearing you say that, really means a lot to me. I know I'm still an inexperienced Servant, but you can count on me. I'll be giving it my all!"

"Are you three done talking?" Da Vinci suddenly exclaimed. "How long are you going to keep me waiting? We need to prep for an immediate rayshift!"

Ritsuka only recently met Da Vinci, and still had no idea how her mind worked. The self-proclaimed genius always seemed laid-back and relaxed, so hearing her in obvious impatience was new to him. "Is it that bad then, Da Vinci?"

"We located seven Singularities and sorted them in ratio of fluctuations and irregularities," the Servant explained. "This one originally had the smallest fluctuations, but they keep changing in intensity and scale."

"We have a coffin ready for you this time, Ritsuka," Roman said. "You should be able to rayshift quickly and safely now. "

Ritsuka felt a moment of apprehension. The losses they sustained in Fuyuki were still fresh on his mind. This time would be different, however. Now, Mash had access to her Noble Phantasm, and they could depend on Lancer's help to boot.

"Once we arrive at our destination, we'll set up a base of operations and prepare a summoning circle for supplies. Lancer? Are you ready?"

"Actually, that might be an issue," Doctor Roman said before the Servant could respond. "Our systems are still too unstable to facilitate the deployment of a full team. You and Mash will be on your own, at least initially."

Ritsuka sighed. He should have seen that coming. "Then we'll just summon Lancer once we've established the summoning circle."

The Servant shrugged. "Better hold out until then, Master. Leave some of them for me, alright?"

Ritsuka met the Lancer's gaze and nodded firmly.

"Great! After you've settled into the era, do what needs to be done. All right – good luck, Ritsuka."

With nothing left to say, Ritsuka walked towards the Master capsule. He seized Mash's gaze as she stepped inside of her own capsule. She gave him a reassuring smile, which he met in kind.

The pod in front of him lit up with an ethereal, bluish light. It began humming gently before he even entered it, as if it was eager to begin the rayshift.

As soon as the capsule sealed itself, an artificial voice echoed through the massive Control Room.

**Unsummon Program start.**

**Spiritron Conversion start.**

Within the centre of the room, Chaldeas stopped rotating. A white waypoint materialized within Western Europe, France.

**Rayshift starting in 3…**

The magical energies that powered the Master capsule began illuminating the entire room. Ritsuka felt apprehension coursing through his veins, but he forced himself to remain calm.

**2…**

Doctor Roman gave him a thumb's-up gesture. Lancer closed his eyes, resting his arms by his side.

**1…**

Ritsuka gave one last look to Mash. She didn't seem bothered by the coming rayshift at all.

Good. He had the sinking feeling they'd need all the confidence they could get.

**All procedures cleared. Grand Order commencing operation.**

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

**Author's Note: **

_This is my first Fate fanfiction. I've always wanted to write a story within the Nasuverse, but my greatest problem was always the central theme. What should the story revolve around? What makes it different from the existing novels and games? I want to stay true to the Fate/Grand Order setting without making the story appear like a rehash of the mobile game. _

_Ultimately, this story is an exploration into the psyche of humanity's last Master as the struggles with the horrors of the Grand Order. It is, after all, a war for humanity's future. _


	2. Chapter 1: Vindication in France

**AN: **_I don't plan on writing an Author's note for every chapter. However, there are still a couple of things that need to be stated if or when they become relevant. _

_I mostly disregard the game mechanics for the Visual Novel mechanics for this story. Rarity doesn't matter; each Servant will get the chance to show off their skills based on their parameter, Noble Phantasms and…well, their skills._

_Additionally, English isn't my first language, although I believe I am fairly well versed in its grammar and rules. Still, I will probably make some mistakes here and there. _

_And finally, I'm always eager to improve my writing, so don't hesitate to leave a review telling me what you think about the story! _

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

**AD.1431 Hundred Years' War of the Evil Dragons: Orleans**

A flash of the brightest light exploded into vision, before collapsing into a singular black hole. It seemed to draw his gaze in like he was staring at something infinitely deep…or nothing at all.

An eternity unfolded within two, three seconds, before his body slammed into something solid. Ritsuka felt himself roll to a sudden stop and lay there, dazed.

He groaned softly. It felt like his guts had been pulled out and dumped back into his body the wrong way.

"Senpai?" He heard Mash's voice call out. "Are you alright?"

Ritsuka didn't dare reply. He feared he might throw up if he did. He very slowly placed his hands on the ground. Soft blades of grass tickled his skin. Wherever they were, it wasn't Chaldea anymore.

"One moment…" he whispered.

Something small and warm nudged his cheek. When Ritsuka turned to see what it was, he only managed to catch a glimpse of something white and furry before Fou's thick tail brushed against his face.

"Fou? Did you tag along again?" Mash exclaimed, sounding surprised. "Well…since he is attached to one of us, when we return he will automatically return as well."

Ritsuka felt the nausea subside somewhat. He slowly crawled back to his feet and looked around. He found himself surrounded by fields of green and grassy hills, with the occasional forest looming in the distance.

"Master, I have confirmed the time axis coordinates. Looks like it's the year 1431. It means we're in the middle of the Hundred Years' War. But this should be during the war's respite period."

"Respite period…" Ritsuka muttered to himself. He sat down on the ground and ran a hand through his hair. "What does that mean?"

Mash knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It means…huh?"

The datapad attached to Ritsuka's wrist began beeping. A second later, the static-filled image of Doctor Roman appeared between the two of them. He looked relieved, if somewhat nervous. "Yes, we're connected! Not the best footage, but I've got video feedback now! Don't worry Ritsuka, the nausea should pass quickly. Uncertainty errors, that's all."

The Master looked up at Roman and was about to give him a retort when something else caught his attention.

Something was wrong. A ring of light shone through the clouds, large enough that it filled the entire sky. It dominated the heavens, a clear symbol of _wrongness. _Just looking at it made him feel uneasy.

"Wait, what's wrong?" Doctor Roman asked. "Both of you are staring at the sky!"

Mash saw it, too. Without taking her eyes off of the strange phenomenon, she said, "Doctor, I'll send you the visuals. What is that?"

The Doctor gasped in shock. "This is – A ring of light…no…some form of magecraft cast over the satellite orbit? In any case it's gigantic. At worst, as big as North-America?"

Ritsuka felt a chill run down his spine. Magecraft as big as North-America? Was that even possible?

"It's surely one of the reasons for the disappearance of our future," the Doctor then said. "We'll have to analyse it on our end."

Ritsuka thought it strange that Roman could be so sure about the ring of light being hostile magecraft. Then again, it was likely Da Vinci was looking over his shoulder.

"Then we'll focus on the mission," Ritsuka said, tearing his gaze off the ring of light. "We've got a lot of things to do, anyway."

"Explore the area, make contact with the people of this era, set up the summoning circle," Mash quickly summed up. "We should probably head towards a city first, Senpai."

"Sounds like a plan," he replied. "Come on, let's go."

The Master and the Servant moved out. They quickly made their way through the grasslands, with Ritsuka in the front and Mash slightly behind him. Ritsuka felt painfully aware of the fact that he was a stranger in a strange land here. As humanity's last Master, he had to be prepared for anything. Problem was, he was rookie Mage. He didn't know offensive or defensive magecraft and had insufficient training to handle himself in a fight.

But…he wasn't about to let that stop him. These were all things he could work on, things he could fix. If he –

Mash suddenly stepped in front of him, her shield at the ready. "Senpai, stop. Confirming…looks like a French scout brigade. What do we do? Should we attempt to make contact?"

Across the hill to their left, Ritsuka spotted a group of armed people slowly heading their way. French soldiers? If this was the Hundred Years' war, the French would be wary of travellers. Maybe contacting them wasn't such a good idea.

"I think we should avoid them for now," he said. "We don't know what they'll do."

"They look like humanoids," Mash replied. "I'm sure we can come to a peaceful understanding."

Ritsuka wasn't sure about that. During normal times, he would consider humans to be their allies. However, these were anything but normal times. Besides; these guys didn't look too friendly at the moment.

Before he could stop her, Mash waved the group down. "Hello, excuse me. We are travellers and – "

The soldiers stopped in their tracks and assumed a loose formation. The one in the front took one good look at Ritsuka and Mash and promptly yelled, "Eek! Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

Ritsuka felt tension seep into his body as the French soldiers drew their blades. The sounds of steel sliding across leather emanated from all around them when the scouts moved to surround them. He quickly categorized what magic he knew, should desperation force his hand. The Director's magic came to mind; she used the Gandr spell with great effect back in Fuyuki, but he had yet to successfully replicate the curse. The only spell he knew for certain was the Reinforcement spell, which expended his own Prana to empower his Servant. Maybe he could -

Of course, Doctor Roman took that moment to butt in. "Yoo-hoo! I'm free now so lemme see how you're…wait, why are you surrounded by an armed group?"

"I apologize," Mash replied. "I should've greeted them in French."

In hindsight, that would have been a smart decision.

"They probably think we're the enemy now," Ritsuka said, warily eyeing the French soldiers. There were twelve of them, all armed and ready for trouble.

The very first enemy they'd have to fight in this Singularity was a group of normal humans. He didn't know how to feel about that.

"Of course," Mash replied, looking more sad than apprehensive. "But now, I believe combat is inevitable."

"You're starting a fight?" Roman exclaimed, audibly dismayed. "With French elites, even?"

Ritsuka wasn't too sure about that elite part. These men didn't look like elites to him. They looked tired, scared even. Half of them were wary of approaching.

"I'm hearing a voice coming out of nowhere!" One of them suddenly yelled. "They're too suspicious, get ready!"

"I think it would be bad to harm the locals," Mash said, repositioning to protect Ritsuka from the soldiers. "We should attack to hold them back!"

"Yeah, I – wait what?" Exclaimed Ritsuka.

"D-Did I say something wrong?"

"In that case, hit them with the back of your blade!" Roman yelled. "Limit the bloodshed to a minimum! Back of the blade!"

"Back of what blade?" Ritsuka demanded. "She has a shield, not a sword!"

"I – I'll think of something!" Mash said. That last bit was enough to spur the French soldiers on, as three of them charged forwards, swords ready to strike.

Mash was much faster however, and intercepted the three of them before they could react. She slammed her shield against the chest of the first soldier, before whirling around and slamming the heel of her boot against the flank of the second soldier. By the time the third soldier saw his comrades get thrown around like ragdolls, Mash was on him as well. She rammed the blunt edge of her shield against the side of his helmet, knocking him out almost instantly.

Another four swiftly followed suit. They simply were no match for a Demi-Servant like Mash. Within seconds, she took down the soldiers down. Still, when Mash knocked out the last soldier with a backhanded blow of her shield, Ritsuka realized that it wasn't just the gap in skill that made this skirmish so one-sided. These guys weren't just scared, they were sluggish. Slow.

Either they had been on the move for a while, or they just back from a fight. Was that the reason they were so jumpy? Because they just finished one battle with a group of foreigners, only to come across another group?

The remaining Frenchmen noticed how horribly outmatched they were and hastily retreated.

When she noticed that her opponents did not rise again, Mash sighed wearily and closed her eyes for a moment. "Physical fatigue aside, the mental fatigue is overwhelming," she sighed.

"Are you alright?" Ritsuka asked, searching for any sign of injury.

"Thank you very much, Senpai," Mash replied with a little smile. "I am unhurt. Anyway, it looks like the rest retreated.

"They're going back to their fort," Doctor Roman chimed in. "We should follow them quietly, and ask what is going on."

Ritsuka found himself agreeing with the Doctor, much to his surprise. "We should be more subtle about it next time. Approach with our hands in the air, tell them we mean no harm."

"Maybe you should approach them in French?" Suggested Roman.

French…right…"My French is a little on the rusty side, Herr Doctor," the Master remarked.

"Danke schön, Herr Doctor. I see, well enough," the Shielder mused. "I'll leave it to you then."

Ritsuka simply stared at Mash for a moment. He decided against explaining the joke, and simply nodded in confirmation.

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

A century ago, a European archaeologist hypothesized that straight lines drawn between various structures and landscapes were alignments between places of power. As it turned out, those so-called "leylines" were actually the root of, not the road to, the places of power. Magical energy channelled through the earth like the heartbeat of a single, giant organism.

Chaldea was capable of tapping into those leylines and use them to power great magical rituals, which included the rituals that summoned and sustained Servants.

The problem was, the more powerful leylines in the area were located in a large, dark forest beyond the French fortress Ritsuka was heading to. Normally that wouldn't be an issue, but there was something about the sprawling forest that made him feel uneasy. He supposed they'd get there eventually, but his gut told him that they needed to stay far away.

However, when Mash and Ritsuka came within viewing distance of the French ford, they realized that calling for reinforcements would have to wait.

"This is…awful, isn't it?" Mash muttered as her expression shifted into one of shock and horror.

The fort was a complete mess. The outer wall was relatively intact, but the inner section had been thoroughly ravished. Dark plumes of smoke coalesced above the structure as men ran around, frantically attempting to put a halt to the flames that consumed their fort. The closer the Master and Servant came, the more obvious it became that this place was in absolutely no condition to defend itself.

Several rows of wounded French soldiers were arranged outside of the main gate. It got worse with every step they took. The air reeked of blood and a mixture of burnt hair, molten plastic and scorched meat. The smell assaulted Ritsuka's senses, leaving a sickening taste in his mouth.

"So many wounded…" Ritsuka muttered. He tried his best to keep from retching. The smell was absolutely overwhelming. "So many burn wounds…what happened here?"

"Even though they are not in an active war…" Mash quietly said, her eyes widening in horror. "In 1431, Charles VII of France entered a peace treaty with Phillip II, an ally of England. So who are they fighting?"

"I don't know," Ritsuka merely replied. By the time the French scouts spotted them, Mash and he were almost close enough to knock on the gates.

"Argh!" One of them yelled, scrambling to get his weapon ready. "Here they come again!"

"B-Bonjour, we are just travellers!" Mash quickly said. "We are not here to harm you, please put down your weapons, monsieur."

"You're…you're not the enemy?" He man stammered back with a hoarse, listless voice.

Mash took a long look around the front of the gate. Ritsuka saw her eyes linger on the row of bodies, before settling on the battered gate. "Why didn't Charles VII sign the peace treaty?" She asked.

The soldier removed his helmet and scratched his black hair. "Say again?"

Mash frowned, then glanced at Ritsuka. The Master shrugged his shoulders in the universal "I don't know" gesture. He guessed that these had men had been put through the wringer. "Just be patient. Why didn't Charles VII sign the treaty, monsieur?" He repeated Mash' question.

"King Charles? So you don't know?" The soldier said. He gave a short and bitter laugh. "The king is dead. He was burned by a witch's flames."

A witch's flames? That had to be the origin of the Singularity.

"What do you mean, a witch?" Mash asked.

"It's…Jeanne d'Arc," the soldier then said. "She has risen again as the Dragon Witch."

Jeanne d'Arc, the holy Saint who fought tooth and nail for her country, only to be captured by the English, betrayed by her own country and burned at the stake. If there was anyone capable of bearing a grudge great enough to turn France into the central point of a Singularity, it would be her.

"England retreated quite a while ago," the soldier continued. "But, where have _we _to run to? This…this is our home. But there's nothing we can do…"

"Jeanne d'Arc…" Mash quietly said.

"I know. Seems like we found our goal," Ritsuka replied.

The Shielder looked troubled by that revelation. "A powerless girl's wishes changed the world. In that regard, Jeanne d'Arc is definitely a top-rank heroic spirit."

"Hey!" Another soldier suddenly yelled, getting the attention of the troops scattered around the front gate. "They are here!"

Roman's reply was but a second away. "Magical energy signals are headed here!" He yelled, his voice urgent. "Familiars created using human bodies…skeleton soldiers. This time it's different. Both of you can be as wild as you want!"

"Yes. Orders, Master!" Mash yelled, gathering her resolve. "Let's pulverize them!"

This time, Ritsuka didn't hesitate. He spotted a discarded sword lying in the dirt and he hurried to grab it. He recalled how, back in Fuyuki, he beat a reanimated skeleton to death with a charred tire iron alongside the Director when the enemy broke through her Gandr barrage. He doubted the enemy would be less numerous than they were back then.

A dark mass detangled itself from the treeline. As the French soldiers rushed to their positions, a large group of walking, blackened skeletons charged their way. They didn't walk, they didn't run, they flat-out _sprinted _towards the battered fort.

Ritsuka clutched the handle of the sword with both hands, readying himself. As soon as the enemy came within range, the handful of archers left on the walls let loose a salvo of arrows. Half of them missed.

"We can't let them get close!" He ordered. "Mash, intercept them!"

"On it!"

Mash kicked off. Within three large strides, she reached top speed and slammed into the front of the skeleton formation. Ritsuka could hear the sound of bones breaking and splintering even from where he stood. He fought the urge to join Mash in the fray; without the proper spells and training, he'd only be a liability to her. What she needed was coordination.

The pink-haired Shielder ducked low to avoid a horizontal swipe, then slammed her shield against the offending skeleton's spine, breaking the undead warrior in half at the waist.

"Behind you!" Ritsuka yelled.

Mash spun around and positioned her shield in front of her, easily warding off an attempted backstab. Her retaliation was swift and lethal, ramming the edge of her shield just below the skeleton's lower jaw and decapitating it.

Ritsuka scanned the enemy's formation and spotted a thick concentration of skeletons to the left. The bastards were all bundled up there, vulnerable to a crushing strike. "Mash! Strike left!"

"What?" She yelled back.

"Strike left!"

This time, she heard him. Mash acted swiftly and struck a punishing blow to the cluster of undead before they could fan out and surround her.

There was no denying the psychological damage these monsters could do; seeing the reanimated corpses of your fellow humans charging your way was pretty intimidating. There was a reason why people throughout the ages tended to conceptualize "death" in the form of a human skull. But when pressed into combat against a superior enemy, their ranks easily crumbled.

Literally, in Mash beautifully demonstrated. When the last skeleton fell, it attempted to rise one final time, but the Shielder merely placed her shield on its skull and shoved it downwards.

Ritsuka winced at the sound of its skull splitting open. The following silence almost felt eerie, and he was glad when one of the French soldiers ran their way.

"You guys…I can't believe you took them on…" he said, his voice a mixture of awe and shock.

"Thank you, Mash," Ritsuka quietly said before addressing the soldier. "Not a problem. Could you please explain to us what's happening? What does Jeanne d'Arc have to do with this?"

The Frenchman took a few seconds to gather his breath, then began explaining. As Ritsuka listened, he felt a rising sense of unease slowly grasp his heart.

Pale skin. Yellow eyes. A cruel, twisted smile. Armour blackened by corruption and soot.

"She was resurrected," another soldier spoke in a hushed tone.

"A pact with the devil."

"Heresy."

Ritsuka turned away from the whispering soldiers. Heresy? The devil? It all sounded like a load of crap to him. Didn't Jeanne d'Arc give her life for these people? Didn't they turn her own believes against her when they put her to death?

"Come on Mash," he quietly said. "There's nothing to learn here. We should – "

The sound of flapping winds and a deafening roar reverberated across the fort.

"Dragons!" A soldier on the wall suddenly yelled. "Get to cover!"

_Dragons? In France?_ Ritsuka thought in a daze. Dragons were considered the pinnacle of the Phantasmal Species. Their existence was impervious to magic, their scales resistant to all but the greatest of human weapons. They created magical energy simply by existing.

Before he could even tell Mash to get to cover, one of beasts soared directly overhead, and everything went to hell. Ritsuka felt the ground shake underneath his feet. A raging torrent of fire erupted seemingly from all around him. The heat was great enough to scorch his clothes and singe his skin. A shadow surged over his head and he was suddenly catapulted into the air. The earth and the sky flashed in rapid succession for an eternally long second. Then, he hit the ground, _hard_.

For several moments, Ritsuka Fujimaru laid on the ground, bleeding and unable to move. Pain racked his body and he gasped for air, but it was almost impossible to breathe.

Something massive landed on the ground, right in front of him. Green, easily as large as a house. Yet somehow, it was still smaller than he imagined a true dragon would be. It even lacked proper arms, as they were fused into leathery, batlike wings.

The creature glared down at the fallen master, its yellow eyes burning with malice.

Ritsuka stared back. He felt the creature's bottomless ferocity and hunger. He remembered how the Director screamed and cried when faced with annihilation. He remembered how calm and serene Mash had been when she slowly bled to death underneath a pile of debris and rubble. He had vowed to be just as calm as Mash had been when his time came, but it seemed he'd have to throw that vow to the wind. Calm meant accepting. There was no way he could accept this.

He dug his palms into the charred grass underneath and forced himself to sit upright. The pain was incredible, but he managed to finally catch his breath again.

"Doctor," he gasped. "How do I – "

The dragon opened its maw, slowly, before rearing back to unleash a blaze of fire. Ritsuka closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

But the fiery death he expected never came. He felt heat wash over his body, but it didn't hurt. Why didn't it hurt?

Ritsuka opened his eyes and saw someone stood between him and the ravenous beast. She was beautiful, the sunlight entwining with her golden hair and bathing her in a serene glow as she struck the creature with a long banner.

There was no contest. The spear-like head of the banner penetrated the dragon's scales with ease. The creature uttered a rumbling cry and died.

Ritsuka felt his heart hammer away in his throat, yet he felt strangely calm. Something about this woman just put him at ease.

He forced himself into a sitting position through great effort. "W-who are you?"

The woman turned to look at him and offered him a warm, gentle smile. She was clad in navy blue, from her armoured boots to her undershirt. Her long, flowing cape was much the same, except for a large, decorative cross on both sides. Her long, blonde locks were tied in a braid that reached to her thighs and her cerulean eyes held nothing but compassion. She knelt down next to him and offered him her hand, clad in a silver gauntlet.

Behind her, one of the French soldiers climbed back to his feet as well. He got one good look at the woman before yelling, "Impossible, it's the witch! Run!"

What was left of the French scout group got the hell out of dodge, running and limping back to their fort – or what remained of their fort.

The witch – no, Jeanne d'Arc - watched them go. Sorrow seeped into her expression, if only for a moment. When she looked back at the fallen Master again, there was only gratitude and relief on her face. "You're very brave. Are you alright? Can you stand?"

Ritsuka was pretty sure he couldn't, but he wasn't about to admit that. There was too much that needed to be done. "I think so. You saved my life. Are you…?"

"Master! Master, are you alright?"

Mash skidded to a halt a couple of feet away from Jeanne d'Arc. She met the blue-clad woman's gaze for a moment, before focusing her attention to her Master. "Senpai, are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?"

Ritsuka took a moment to gather his breath and calm down. "I don't think so. Mash, the dragons. Did we…?"

Mash nodded vigorously. "All enemies have been dealt with, Master!"

"Uhm…thank you very much for your aid," Jeanne tentatively spoke.

"Oh, that was nothing," Mash was quick to respond. "Thank you for saving Master's life. Your name was – "

"Ruler. My Servant class is Ruler. My True Name is Jeanne d'Arc."

Mash's eyes widened when she heard that name. "Jeanne…d'Arc?"

"She's not a witch," Ritsuka firmly said. "She's definitely on our side, Mash."

Ruler's expression fell. "We'll talk about that later. It is nothing we should speak about in front of them. Come with me, please."

Ritsuka met Mash's gaze. "That sounds like a good idea. We'll need to hit the leylines in the forest ahead anyway."

With a soft beeping noise, the datapad around his wrist indicated that Doctor Roman had been listening in. "I agree as well. She looks weakened, but she's a Servant, too. I'm certain she's aware of the situation in this era. Let's ask her for details."

Weakened? The Ruler didn't_ look _weakened. Still, if Chaldea's equipment indicated she was, Ritsuka had no reason to ignore that. "We better get moving then, before more of those things show up."

"Very well," Ruler declared. "I shall guide our way."

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

The dragons – or wyverns, as Mash and Jeanne called them – didn't stop at razing the French fort to the ground. They continued hounding the Chaldean group, chasing them all the way to the treeline of the dark forest. Mash and Ruler performed admirably in protecting against their numbers, shielding Ritsuka against fire and bull-rushes alike. But there were so many of them, and the constant pressure of their ferocity forced the Chaldean envoys on the defensive the entire time.

It didn't take Ritsuka long to recognize that their approach didn't work; both Mash as Ruler made short work of the Wyverns if and when they strayed too close, but the draconic beasts were too great in numbers.

"Change of plan," the Master yelled even as Mash pulled him out of the way of a diving Wyvern. "Ruler, can you protect us while we set up the summoning circle?"

"Summoning circle?" Jeanne replied, leaping into the air and deflecting a burst of flames with her flag banner. "What for?"

"Reinforcements!" Ritsuka yelled back. "Mash, set up your shield and make the connection to Chaldea! Hurry!"

"Yes, Master!" The Shielder yelled back. She raised her shield to protect herself against a Wyvern attempting to maul her with its claws, then nimbly leapt backwards to create some distance from the beast. Ruler was quick to come to her aid, slamming her flag banner against its side with enough force to send it crashing into a tree. The large oak groaned and splintered as the draconic monster nearly split it in half.

Light emanated from Mash's shield when she placed it on the ground. Another Wyvern crashed through the treeline to strike at her, but Ruler easily deflected the creature's attack with her battle flag. She struck at the Wyvern with the spear-point at the Noble Phantasm's tip, easily penetrating its thick scales and striking at its heart.

Perhaps sensing the magical ritual that was about to take place as a threat, more and more Wyverns agglomerated above them – swarming their position. Their screeches were deafening, the constant flapping of their wings buffeting the ground below.

Ritsuka shielded himself with his arms, stepping closer to Mash as he felt his body began to ache once more.

"Here is the work of the Lord!" Jeanne exclaimed, before planting her flag into the ground and grasping it tightly. "My flag, defend our brethren! Luminosité Eternelle!"

A pure, holy light emanated from her flag, growing in brightness and intensity. It enveloped Mash, whose weariness seemed to subside; and Ritsuka, who felt his pain wash away almost instantly. It enveloped the trees that stopped quivering. It even enveloped the Wyverns, whose razor-sharp claws and searing flames suddenly failed to do any harm.

Ritsuka felt a sense of awe creep up on him. Even after such a horrible death, Jeanne d'Arc's Noble Phantasm – the crystallization of her legend – was one of protection and healing.

Why? Why didn't she resent the land that sentenced her to death?

The protection offered by Ruler was absolute, but it was not indefinite. Slowly, the holy light began to ebb away, and the safety bought by the Noble Phantasm disappeared.

By then, however, it wasn't needed anymore.

An arc of crimson lightning struck one of the Wyverns, killing it instantly. Its brethren suddenly broke off their attacks and veered out of the way, but the blue-clad figure was already in their midst. Both Wyverns were dealt quick, decisive blows before the first one had even hit the ground.

One of the draconic beasts did not immediately the dangerous new combatant on the field, and bull-rushed Ritsuka.

"There!"

Impossibly fast, Lancer leapt in-between the Wyvern and the Master. He leapt at the Wyvern, striking its head with the side of his spear. Its skull shattered into fragments, its soulless eyes bulging as its cranium was pulverized. A torrent of thick, dark blood poured from its ruined frame.

Lancer stood straight, twirling his spear in his left hand and planting it into the ground like Ruler had, albeit with vastly different intentions.

"You kept me waiting, Master!" He said, baring his teeth in that wolfish grin of his. "Orders?"

Ritsuka smiled. "Let's clear the area!"

The Lancer's grin grew even wider. "Got it!"

What followed was similar to Mash's clash with the French soldiers in that there could have only been one outcome. Lancer moved with such incredible speed and precision that he was hard to keep up with. He moved with superhuman speed, striking one Wyvern after another as he dashed through the forest in a streak of blue and red. The Wyverns barely had time to respond before he cut them from the sky.

Lancer dropped down from the sky and landed in a crouching position, supporting his weight with one hand on the floor. The other reached into the air, as if grasping something invisible. A second later, his Noble Phantasm burst through the thick foliage above, returning to its owner with impeccable accuracy.

"Huh? Was that all, Master?" He asked with in mock confusion.

Ritsuka was speechless. _So this is the power of a Servant…_

Ruler cautiously stepped closer to Ritsuka, staring at the Lancer with a wary expression. "Thank you for your assistance," she said. "Are you from this "Chaldea" as well?"

Lancer stood straight, meeting the Ruler's piercing blue gaze with a glare of his own. "I simply fight for my Master. Chaldea's just the place _he _fights for."

"If so, I am most grateful for your help either way," the Ruler settled for replying. "Please, tell me your names."

"Understood," Mash said. "My Individual Name is Mash Kyrielight. This is Ritsuka Fujimaru, my Master. This is Lancer, our ally."

"Master?" Jeanne replied, picking up on one word especially. "So there are Masters even in this Holy Grail War."

"No, it has nothing to do with the Holy Grail War," Mash replied, a hint of sorrow visible in her eyes. "I am just a Demi-Servant."

The Ruler blinked with surprise. "Demi-Servant?"

"Not a true Heroic Spirit," Mash clarified. "Have you heard of us?"

"…Right. We should probably clear that up first. I am indeed a Servant. My Class is Ruler. I understand that. But…a majority of information about the Holy Grail War that should be provided is missing." The Ruler seemed thoughtful for a moment, then added, "No, not just information. My stats have ranked down as well. Not only have I lost my anti-Servant Command Spells, I can't even reveal their True Names anymore."

_Anti-Servant Command Spells_? Ritsuka thought. He never considered that Command Spells could be applied in an offensive way. He'd have to look into that, later. Perhaps once Chaldea summoned a Caster-Class Servant?

For now, there were more important things to worry about. "That soldier earlier was saying something about Jeanne d'Arc as a "Dragon Witch"."

But Jeanne shook her head. "I was summoned mere hours ago; I only know there must be another Jeanne d'Arc in this world. A Jeanne who murdered Charles VII and committed the slaughter at Orleans…"

Doctor Roman butted in through Mash's wristband to explain how the death of Charles VII and the collapse of France would result in the stagnation of humanity, but the sudden echo of a disembodied voice only served to confuse Jeanne.

"I just heard a voice…is that magecraft?" She demanded. "What in the world are you all – "

"That's Doctor Roman, our technical support," Ritsuka quickly replied. "He does various things around Chaldea as well."

"Hmm…he must be quite the dreamer," Jeanne said.

"What is this sense of defeat?" The Doctor exclaimed. "She complimented me, but I'm not happy at all!"

Ritsuka chuckled. "Yeah, that too. As I was saying, Roman helps us on our mission to restore the twisted history of mankind. Chaldea is the name of our organization."

"Yes. That's right! You see…"

With that particular confusion cleared up, Doctor Roman was free to explain just why Chaldea was interfering with France's history. Which he did. For the longest time…

Ritsuka couldn't muster the focus to pay attention to Roman's explanation again. As the Doctor told Jeanne about the incineration of humanity, Ritsuka stood up from the log he had been sitting on and walked off.

Dragon Witch…a version of Jeanne d'Arc who took revenge on her country by killing the king and destroying Orleans. Ritsuka knew that he should think of that Jeanne as the enemy, but he found himself unable to. He knew it was wrong, but he only felt sympathy for the young woman.

"Yo Master, you alright?"

Ritsuka looked up to see Lancer leaning against a tree, his arms crossed over his chest in a very nonchalant manner.

"Hey Lancer," Ritsuka replied. "I guess so."

Lancer cocked an eyebrow. "Guess? Doesn't sound very convincing, you know."

Ritsuka didn't doubt that. Ruler's Noble Phantasm probably healed whatever damage those Wyverns did to his body, but it still made him realize how vulnerable he was. If he died, so did Chaldea's hope of restoring humanity. Doctor Roman and Da Vinci were good, but without dedicated medical personnel they had no hopes of resuscitating what little Master candidates survived the accident.

Basically, Lev Lainur would win the moment Ritsuka Fujimaru died. And while the former was no doubt a formidable magus, the latter was definitely not. If thus "alternate" Jeanne d'Arc could summon such powerful creatures with such ease, how powerful was she? Was she stronger than the blackened Saber from Fuyuki?

"Lancer, how difficult is it to summon dragons, like these Wyverns?" Ritsuka eventually spoke up.

For some reason, the Servant smirked upon hearing his question. "Summoning dragons is one of the highest forms of magecraft. It'd be impossible for mages of your age. Shishou could have done it, but…"

"Who's Shishou?" Ritsuka asked.

Lancer's smirk faded. "My teacher. Mentor, really. It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell it another time. So…why so worried about these little things?"

Ritsuka looked up at the ceiling of the forest, where one of the Wyverns had crashed through the thick branches like they were matchsticks. "Summoning this many Wyverns and focusing them on one little fort…do you think a magus – or even a Servant – from this age could do that?"

"Dunno. To be honest? I don't think so."

"The Holy Grail…" Ritsuka muttered.

"Damn thing's causing trouble already," Lancer replied. He sighed. For a moment, it looked like he was going to say something else, but then something behind Ritsuka drew his gaze. "Done chatting, Miss Saint?"

Ritsuka turned around to see Mash and Jeanne d'Arc approaching them.

The Ruler shot a wary look at Lancer. "Please, don't call me that. I'm not a Saint."

"Meh, fine by me. Ruler, then. Are we going to hunt your evil version soon?"

Ritsuka saw how Lancer's words struck Jeanne. She and Mash must have been talking about that very same subject as well.

He quickly said, "Lancer and I think that this Dragon Witch Jeanne might be connected to the Holy Grail. Mash, if that's true…"

Mash immediately understood what he was saying. "Doctor Roman thought the same. Defeating the evil Jeanne might restore this Singularity if she possesses the Holy Grail!"

Ritsuka nodded, then turned towards Jeanne. "Ruler, cam we count on your help?"

"Of course!" Jeanne beamed. "The pleasure would be all mine! I thought I would have to fight on my own. Now at this time and place, we have a chance to fight as one. Ritsuka, I would greatly appreciate your aid!"

Ritsuka looked at Mash, who seemed to just as happy as Jeanne was. "It's settled then. We need to find and obtain the Holy Grail. Mash, I assume you told Jeanne about our mission?"

"Yes Senpai!" The Shielder replied. "Doctor Roman thinks that the Dragon Witch Jeanne d'Arc has the Holy Grail as well. We should find and defeat her as soon as we can!"

"For now, we should scout around first," the Ruler corrected her. "The goal might be simple, but reaching it is not."

"I agree with the spear-wielding Saint!" Lancer declared. "We don't know the lay of the land, nor the defences this Dragon Witch has. We should definitely scout things out, first!"

Ritsuka expected the Ruler to agree with Lancer's assessment, or at least start filling them in on what kind of plans she already had. What he didn't expect was the fluster that appeared on her face, nor the hint of annoyance that suddenly flared in her eyes. "I am not a true Saint, Lancer. I have not earned the right. And this is _not _a spear!"

Lancer merely chuckled in response. "Sure looks that way to me. It even has a spear tip!"

Mash interfered before Ruler could give her retort. "Actually, Jeanne, it would be good if we had more allies. Is there a reading on any other Servants besides ourselves?"

"I am sorry," Jeanne replied. "But as I am now, I am incapable of using my ability as a Ruler to detect other Servants."

_My ability as a Ruler._

Alarm coursed through Ritsuka's veins when he realized what that meant. "Wait, Rulers can detect other Servants? Then what about the other you?"

Jeanne's eyes widened with shock. "Careless!" She spat. "That is definitely a possibility! If the other me is also a Servant, her class will be Ruler, just like mine! If so, she will be able to immediately sense our position – we must be ready for battle at all times!"

Ritsuka turned towards Lancer. "Lancer, could you – "

"On it, Master!" The blue-clad Servant said. "I'll keep an eye out!"

With that, Lancer disappeared, leaving Ritsuka alone with Mash and Jeanne again.

The Ruler sighed. "You should probably get some sleep first, Ritsuka. You're a human, after all."

"What about you?" Ritsuka replied. He wasn't the one who had to deal with a murderous version of himself ransacking his home.

Jeanne offered him a gentle smile. "I will be fine. I still possess the abilities of a Servant, after all."

That wasn't what Ritsuka meant. Maybe Jeanne just didn't want to talk about it. "Alright. We'll set up a base here. But we'll set out at first light!"

"Of course, Senpai," Mash said. "Please make sure you rest well!"

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Cú Chulainn squatted down on a thick branch, roughly half a dozen meters above the Master's improvised camping site. He spent the last hour setting up a solid outer boundary, placing specially-crafted Runes on key locations to alert him of any intruders. Someone as powerful as the Dragon Witch never went unnoticed when she strode across the land.

The blue-clad Lancer slowly placed his back against the trunk of the tree and allowed himself to relax. Beneath him, the lady Saint and Mash were discussing something that caught his attention.

"Ho?" He muttered to himself. It had only been a few days since the original Jeanne d'Arc died? It would explain the Ruler's lack of powers.

What a mess this was. Dragons in France? What his teacher wouldn't have given to be here today! Even though the young Master was so apprehensive of the coming battles, not many heroes could claim the feat of fighting and killing a Phantasmal species as infamous as a dragon!

But the two ladies below him sounded like they were far from enthusiastic about the coming fights. Neither could fully harness the powers of a Heroic Spirit, and both could considered this their first time fighting in a war.

Two more rookies to look after. Man, what a drag.

"But Senpai – Master, trusts someone like me," Mash then said, instantly getting Cú's attention again. "I don't know how to say this, but Senpai didn't choose to fight to prove something. I think he is simply trying to do what should be done. So, it's all right. There is no reason for you to worry!"

Still, the Celtic hero couldn't help but smirk when he heard that. That there was basically his reason to follow the Master in a nutshell. The kid was young, inexperienced and basically useless in a fight. But…his heart was in the right place, and he shouldered a pretty large burden.

And, as Cú had learnt during his time in the Land of Shadows, even the youngest pups could be turned into fierce warriors. If his Master was willing to learn, there might be a couple of tricks he could teach the kid.

The next morning, Jeanne decided to take them to the towns and forts surrounding Orleans. Apparently, the Dragon Witch was still active around Orleans, which made it dangerous to get close. Normally, Cú Chulainn would rather call Shishou an old hag before shying away from a challenge, but the Ruler was adamant about this.

_As long as we are uncertain about the forces we have, we cannot engage._

Cú rolled with his eyes when he heard the Saint explain her reasoning, but refrained from commenting. Picking fights when they weren't needed wasn't exactly his sty –

He froze when he caught the familiar whiff of smoke. He held out his fist to signal Master to stop, then focused his senses on the thick stench of smoke and fire.

Yeah, that basically _screamed _trouble.

"What was the town you wanted to visit called again, Ruler?" He asked.

"La Charite," the braided Servant replied. "Why? What did you sense, Lancer?"

"I see our destination, and it is burning," he grimly replied.

"Burning?" Mash replied, her eyes widening.

"Let's hurry!" Ruler said.

They double-timed it to the village. Moving at speeds only Servants were capable of, Cú knew that there was no way Master would be able to keep up. So, he did the only thing a good guard dog would do in such a situation.

He unceremoniously scooped the kid up by his neck and draped him over his shoulders.

"Lancer, what are you doing?" Ritsuka asked with a somewhat muffled voice.

"Sorry about this Master, but time is of the essence, right?" Cú replied, focusing on speed more than anything else. Clutching his Master with his left hand and holding his prized spear in his right, he darted ahead of the formation.

Ah, this was bad! The entire place was on fire and nobody was running around – not to put out the fires, nor to evacuate!

When she passed through what had once been the village's outer gate, Jeanne d'Arc reached the same conclusion upon seeing how empty La Charite was.

"It couldn't be!" She said with dismay.

"Doctor, life form detection - !" Mash demanded of Chaldea's resident useless mage.

"It's no use, there's nothing left alive in that town!" Romani replied, confirming what Cú already knew.

"It can't be…" Mash muttered, while Master clenched his fists and scowled.

"Again…" The kid muttered, gazing at the ground in a mixture of anger and what was probably guilt. He snapped out of it quickly however, as his head snapped upwards and he swiftly ordered, "Whatever did this could be close! Stay alert!"

Lancer readied his spear, silently daring his enemy to come out and fight.

"There, I hear movement!" Ruler declared, gripping her banner tightly and aiming its spear tip at an alleyway between two ruined buildings.

There, several figures shuffled into view.

"Wait a minute," Mash said upon seeing the sorry lot, "Those are – !"

"Sorry Master, we can't be showing mercy now!" Cú said. "Miss, time to go wild!"

"R-Right!" Mash said, tensing up. "Master, I will scatter them!"

The Master stared with horror at the approaching enemies. Many of the village's residents had been turned into cheap replicas of the living dead. Reanimated corpses meant to shatter the resolve of unsteady warriors. And to make matters worse, even as Mash and Ruler put those things back into the ground, those same damn Wyverns as before showed up.

"Guess we know who burned this place down," Cú said as he threw his Noble Phantasm, Gáe Bolg, at the closest dragon. The deadly barbed spear tore through the beast like its scales were made of leaves. Had the beasts been positioned properly, Cú was certain he could have put out the fires with the amount of blood he shed above the village.

This fight was far from hairy, but things were about to get difficult. Even as Chaldea's Doctor contacted the Master to warn him about the sudden presence of Servants heading their way, Cú Chulainn sensed their approach.

"Tch…this is about to get bad," the Lancer muttered to himself. He wasn't the most skilled when it came to estimating the magical strength of his foes, but even he could sense that the Servants approaching them were no joke. At least one of them was several times stronger than he was, easily.

As Mash and Jeanne debated what to do, the Master scanned his surroundings, wary of more trouble. "Lancer!"

Cú leapt down from his position atop one of the rooftops and landed next to the kiddo. "Master, are we going to run? Or stand our ground?"

"I need to know who she is!" Ritsuka not-quite explained.

"What?"

"This other version of Jeanne…I need to know who she is!"

For a moment, Lancer stared at his Master with incredibility. Then, he laughed. "Ah, this is about a woman? A _woman_ of all reasons? Master, we'll celebrate this later! But what are your plans for _surviving _this woman?"

Ritsuka looked at Lancer, for the very first time, with steel in his gaze. "A fighting retreat. Can I count on you, Lancer?"

"Hah! I, Cú Chulainn, Son of Lugh and Ulster's greatest warrior, will show you how much you can count on me!" The Lancer proudly declared, holding his prized Gáe Bolg in front of him as the enemy's signatures closed in on them.

That mere thought was enough to get Cú's blood pumping. It was time to make one hell of an impression for his Master!

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

A pale, long-haired man with a spear. A masked, evil-looking woman wearing a barbed dress. A beautiful Saint wielding a large cross-shaped staff. A French knight with a rapier. The Servants moved to surround them, circling around them like a flock of hungry vultures. And leading them…was Jeanne d'Arc.

Except it wasn't "Ruler". Her armour was as black as the night, a dark mirror to Jeanne's navy-blue. Her hair was shorter and lighter, while her skin was pale – eerily so. Her eyes glowed an eerie yellow. In that regard, she reminded him of the Saber Mash and him fought in Fuyuki.

She was beautiful, but she exuded an aura of malice and hatred that made it difficult to even look at her and downright impossible to meet her gaze. Just one look into those glowing, burning eyes of her, and Ritsuka knew what drove this woman.

Jeanne visibly flinched upon seeing her black reflection, who simply stared at her with a blank expression.

"What, on Earth?" The dark-clad Jeanne muttered to herself. "Who knew…who knew such a thing could happen?"

Then, the woman smiled. Unlike Lancer's smug little smirk, "Ruler's" was razor-thin and disturbing. "Could someone please pour some water on me? This is bad. It's awful. I think I'm really going to lose it. It's so funny I might die from laughing! Take a look, Gilles! Look at that pathetic girl!"

Ritsuka eyed the gathered Servants, wondering which one the dark Ruler spoke to. Her tone unnerved him. Just like her expression, her tone held a promise of violence no readied weapon could match. There was no way that this was not going to end in a fight.

"Hey, Gilles, don't you think so – Oh, I see. We didn't bring Gilles along." Just like that, her smirk vanished, and her face became a blank mask once more.

Chaldea's Master shifted his weight from one leg to the other. The girl almost sounded a bit…unhinged.

"You…who are you?" Jeanne exclaimed, voicing the question that was on everybody's mind.

"I could ask the same of you," the other Jeanne shot back. "Right, as a leader, let me answer that. I am Jeanne d'Arc, the saint devoted to France…the other "me"."

It was obvious Ruler wouldn't have any of that. "That's nonsense! You are no saint, just as I am no saint. But, that is already a thing of the past. More importantly – why did you attack this town?"

"Why, you ask? As the same Jeanne d'Arc, I thought you would understand," the alternate Jeanne replied, as calmly as if she were speaking about the weather. "Are you an imbecile, now that your alignment has changed? The reason I attacked this town? It's obvious, isn't it?"

"Yes," Ritsuka said, earning the attention of both Jeanne's. The weight of their gazes pressed down on his shoulders, and he had to struggle to stay calm. "It's only been a few of days since they put you to death. And what for? Everybody would want revenge- "

"Revenge," the woman muttered. "Revenge…"

A tension rippled through the gathered Servants, and Lancer - Cú Chulainn – inched closer to Ritsuka. The other Jeanne was grinning now, but it had nothing to do with mirth. "Revenge…yes. I'll raze France to the ground myself. Politically, economically, these methods take far too long. I'll grasp this land and crush it with my own hands."

"Such foolishness!" Exclaimed Ruler.

"Foolishness? The foolish ones are us, Jeanne d'Arc. Why did you want to save this country? Why did you want to bring salvation to these people?" Her eyes were wide as her visage contorted with rage. "All the while knowing that they are the ones who spit on us and betrayed us!"

"You have every right to be angry!" Ritsuka yelled, trying one more time to diffuse the situation before it could escalate further. "But these people, they had nothing to do with what happened! Just – "

"I will be fooled no longer," the dark-clothed woman continued in a tone that whispered of terrible, violent things to come. "I will be betrayed no longer. I no longer hear the voice of the Lord. Is this so impossible for you to understand, you pretty little holy _virgin_, who pretends not to see hatred, incapable of human growth? And you! A pathetic, worthless _human _who thinks you can stand in my way?" She continued, levelling her burning glare at Ritsuka. "This is all your fault! No _human _has the right to speak to me anymore!"

Several things happened at once. In a flash, the dark Jeanne had her sword drawn and Cú tackled Ritsuka out of the way. An explosion of flames engulfed the two of them, after which the Lancer swiftly grabbed Ritsuka and dragged him out of the hellish fire.

"Berserk Lancer, Berserk Assassin! Finish off that disgusting human and take the country girl with him!" Cried the vengeful Jeanne. "Devour them to your heart's content!"

In that instant, Cú's spear intercepted the scalpel-like lance of his Berserk counterpart, stopping the blade mere inches away from Ritsuka's face. He uttered a mighty cry and shoved the well-dressed Lancer away, just in time to deflect a cascade of hardened blood, summoned by the Berserk Assassin.

"It's no use, Master!" Cú cried as he set Ritsuka down again. "Crazy women can't be reasoned with!"

The masked woman laughed, her haughty voice echoing through the ravaged village. "You stand in our way, boy! I will partake of her flesh and blood, as well as her insides! You shall make for a good appetizer!"

Indignation welled up inside of Ritsuka. Light or dark, "Jeanne d'Arc" had suffered enough. "Mash, Jeanne, cover each other! Lancer! Time to go wild!"

Cú Chulainn's savage grin was a sight to behold. "Got it, Master!"

"Ah, such a pretty boy as well," the Berserk assassin said. "Such a shame I can only elevate my beauty with _women_. Still, I will enjoy crushing such fresh fruit! I'll discard the skin and just enjoy the juice – such is the privilege of being a Noble of the Night."

"Master!" Mash yelled.

Ritsuka swiftly analysed the situation. It seemed that the dark Jeanne was intent on using only two of her Servants. Three against two meant that he could have at least one Servant concentrating on defence. Mash and Jeanne could alternate in attacking –

The other Lancer surged towards Cú again, his spear aimed for the blue-clad Servant's throat. Chaldea's Lancer easily parried the blow and unleashed a flurry of quick jabs himself, but his opponent seemed equally skilled in parrying.

While the two Lancers kept each other preoccupied with their lethal dance, the Berserk Assassin went for Jeanne. Mash immediately dashed towards her and rammed the side of her shield against her flank, only for the Assassin to fling Mash aside with a clawed swipe.

A vicious wave of blood erupted from between the two and for one horrible moment, Ritsuka feared Mash had taken a gruesome injury. However, the Shielder landed safely on her feet and resumed her attack again.

_What does she - ? _

Then he realized it. The blood. Somehow, the enemy Assassin used _blood _as her weapon.

Jeanne darted forwards as well, slamming her banner at the Assassin's side with enough force to send the masked woman flying. The Assassin skidded across the ground and crashed into the side of a building, shattering bricks and woods as she came to a rough stop.

"You are strong," The Berserk Lancer commented when Cú managed to break his guard, slicing into his shoulder. "The young blood is full of fire."

"I can't believe you can't finish off a young brat like him," the Assassin bit at her ally.

"And you failed to even harm a young girl," the long-haired Servant gracefully replied. "Is your sympathy holding you back?"

"Hah! Kindness like that doesn't suit you, Dracul," the woman chuckled.

Dracul…Dracula. The origin of the legend of the vampire. Ritsuka couldn't imagine how the dark Ruler had managed to summon such a renowned Heroic Spirit!

"Dracul…no way…" Mash quietly said, visibly distraught by that revelation.

"Yes," Doctor Roman chimed in with a grim tone. "Vlad the Third…Romania's greatest hero, also known as the Lord Impaler."

Vlad's dark eyes narrowed with irritation. "Who knew that you'd reveal my True Name in front of others," he hissed. "I am extremely displeased."

The threat was obvious, tut the countess was not intimidated by his remark. "What's wrong?" She said with a sneer. "I would rather be remembered by a bad name than none at all. Besides…I actually prefer to be called by my True Name. Fufufu…Dread and despair, faintly spiced with a false hope. The ones with the best cries are the little squirrels who think "I can escape". So – "

Cú appeared in-between the two of them like a bolt of blue lightning. "Oh, shut up already!" He yelled, landing a savage kick against the side of the woman's head. "Talking about shit like this!" He battered aside the Berserk Lancer's spear and gored him through his shoulder with his own Noble Phantasm.

The Assassin leapt back to her feet, her eyes glowing an angry red behind her mask. "What impudence! I will whip the skin off your back, runt!"

"Very well," the Berserk Lancer replied. Despite the bleeding wound in his shoulder, he assumed a combat stance and eyed Cú with a look of amusement. "It seems I cannot afford to hold back anymore. Elisabeth Bathory…you should stop this playful act as well. This "runt" means business!"

_Elisabeth Bathory? Why did they reveal each other's names_? Ritsuka mused. Why would this Jeanne deploy two Servants with such bad synergy?

"Stop that this instant!" The alternate Jeanne snapped at her subordinates. "Cease your squabbling and tear those girls apart!"

Vlad slammed his spear down towards Cú's neck, forcing the Chaldean Lancer swiftly leapt side to dodge the strike. However, Vlad disappeared in a black cloud and appeared behind him, lashing out with his lance with blinding speed. Cú managed to avoid that strike, but the enemy kept reappearing at his back, constantly prodding the Lancer for weaknesses.

Finally, the Berserk Servant managed to slice into Cú's shoulder with the tip of his spear. Cú immediately wrenched himself free and leapt backwards to create some space, but even he seemed shocked at the injury.

"You will not escape me," the vampiric Servant exclaimed. He rammed his spear into the ground and called forth a landslide of menacing black spikes, practically glowing with red mana. The landslide of stakes rushed towards Cú with immense speed. When the Chaldean Servant leapt atop one of the buildings to avoid the lethal barrage, the red-glowing spikes simply materialized several feet in front of him, as if chasing him down on their own accord.

"Something is off…" The Servant known as Elisabeth Bathory growled. "Young lady with the shield…you smell horrible. Such tender years, yet such a battle-hardened soul…how contradictory. Who are you?"

The dark Jeanne slowly walked towards them, ignoring the raging battle between Cú and Vlad as well as the stakes and the flames. "A Demi-Servant," she spoke, brandishing her own flag banner. "An anomaly, a cross between a Servant and a human."

Ritsuka glared at the woman. How? How did she know?

The dark Jeanne seemed equally frustrated with the revelation, if her annoyed expression was anything to go by. "That was my mistake. Very well."

At her command, the two other Servants leapt atop the rooftops flanking Jeanne and Mash, readying themselves for battle. The one on the was the woman with the cross-shaped staff. Her long, purple hair flowed freely in the wind, while her pristine white dress remained untouched by the wind of sooth and ashes.

The other Servant was clad in a white and blue coat. Upon spotting Mash, the Servant drew her rapier and stood.

"Mash, Run!" Jeanne yelled. "I will hold them off!"

Doctor Roman was frantic. "Oh no, is she sending all three after us now? What do we do, what do we do? Any ideas?"

"Doctor, please calm down! You are making me panic as well!" Mash loudly said.

"We're not going anywhere," Ritsuka ordered. "Mash, Jeanne, stay close! We need to break through to Lancer – "

The instant he issued that order, the first Servant leapt towards Jeanne. Her staff came down with the force of an avalanche, only to be stopped in her tracks by Mash's shield.

Gripping her weapon with both hands, the Servant uttered a cry and the cross-shaped section of her weapon seemed to explode with light. Mash staggered backwards, dazed by the force of the blow.

Ritsuka rushed her way, raising his fist and concentrating on the flow of Prana that ran through his Magic Circuits.

"Mash!" He yelled, extending his fist towards her and releasing the energy he had built up. The surge of Prana poured through his body like boiling water, but a split-second later a faint glow of red surrounded Mash as the Reinforcement spell took hold. It wasn't potent, but at least it was _something_.

The enemy Servant – a Rider, Ritsuka thought – struck Mash's shield again, releasing another detonation of bluish-white energy. But this time, Mash held her ground and it was the Rider who was sent staggering backwards by the impact.

But the knight and the Assassin were on Mash in an instant. With lighter, faster attacks, they were able to land several blows on the Shielder.

"Mash!" Ritsuka yelled as the Berserk knight's rapier sliced through her thigh, deep enough to draw blood.

"It's just a superficial wound!" Mash shot back through gritted teeth.

This wasn't working. They were outnumbered and outgunned. Jeanne obviously did her best, but her vengeful counterpart kept her pinned down with ease. She drew her sword, ignited it with fire and slashed at the air in front of her. A raging storm of fire rocketed towards the Ruler, who only narrowly managed to avoid the inferno by leaping away at the very last second.

"Run little saint!" She gleefully said, before whipping her sword over her head and sending another surge of flames down the village. "Or this village will see you burned to ashes again!"

With both Lancer and Ruler occupied, Mash couldn't hold out. They needed to get out of this place and fast!

"Lancer, fighting retreat!" He yelled. "Mash, Jeanne, we need to fall retreat!"

"That would be that," the dark Jeanne said with a insane little giggle. Again, she instantly assumed a stoic expression before continuing, "I will be sure to remove your heads myself. "

"Both of you, please go!" Ruler exclaimed.

Ritsuka shook his head. "Not without you."

"You cannot afford to wait! Just go!" The girl stubbornly insisted.

"Jeanne, just – "

At that moment, something sharp and bright landed in front of the dark Jeanne, who immediately leapt backwards to a safe distance. "What?" She growled.

"Is that…a glass rose?" Mash asked in disbelief.

"It's not elegant," the voice of a young woman reverberated across the rooftops. "Neither is this city. Neither is that combat style. I don't like your philosophy or principles either. You are so beautiful, yet you shroud yourself in blood and hatred. For good or for evil, shouldn't a human try to be more free?"

"A Servant?" Growled Jeanne Alter.

She was right. Ritsuka detected the aura of another Servant rapidly approaching their position. Not more than a second later, a young woman dropped down in-between the two Rulers. She turned to face the dark Jeanne, her expression tense. "I know who you are. I know how powerful and terrifying you are," she said. "To be honest, I have to confess that I've never trembled in fear more before anyone else. Yet still – if you intend to invade this nation, then I shall face you even if I have to tear apart my dress! And do you know why?"

The Servant looked like she was about Mash's age. She wore a red dress that revealed much of her flawless, porcelain skin. Her white hair was divided in two long tails, upon which rested the largest hat Ritsuka had ever seen before in his life.

Upon seeing the new Servant's arrival, the female knight spun around lowered her weapon. Her expression changed from angry determination to…what, pain? Shame? "Because…because you are…"

The newcomer smiled at the Saber. "Oh my. So you know my True Name? Have we met before, splendid female knight?"

"Saber," Jeanne Alter demanded. "Who is she?"

The knight didn't respond.

"Answer me!"

"I can tell who she is, even with this murderous rage burning in my heart," the knight quietly said. "Her beauty is unmistakable. The girl they called the Flower of Versailles. She is…Marie Antoinette."

Marie Antoinette? The queen of France? Ritsuka couldn't fathom how such a person could make a difference in a battle like this. Where did she come from? Who was her Master?

"Leave!" The Dark Ruler said. "You lack the right to participate in this battle!"

"Oh," the queen spoke with a little smirk. "And why is that?"

Ritsuka looked back at the hateful Ruler. He felt shame well up within him. For reasons he didn't understand, he silently agreed with her.

"You led a life of luxury in a palace, and died without even knowing what happened. Are you saying you can understand our hatred?" The seething woman said.

A hurt look crossed the new Servant's face. "I suppose I can't. But that just makes me want to know more, Dragon Witch."

"What?"

"Oh Jeanne d'Arc, beloved saint! All I know is that you are taking your anger out on the innocent, I have not the slightest idea why. But I swear this, beautiful Jeanne! I will make you understand, I will make your heart and body mine!"

At that remark, Jeanne Alter's eyes widened with rage. "Enough of this farce!" She screamed before Ritsuka could even process what was happening. "Servants, focus on that annoying insect! Butcher her, parade her corpse through this hole of a city!"

Ritsuka suddenly felt something nag at the back of his mind. When he realized what it was, he felt his heart leap with relief. "Jeanne d'Arc! One more time! I will bear your hatred, if you will just stop and listen to me!'

"I have no need to listen!" She shot back. "You are _nothing_! If I can kill you like _that_, why would I even bother with you?"

At that moment, the Berserk Lancer came crashing through a brick wall, before rolling to a halt more than a dozen meters away.

Cú Chulain casually strolled through the hole he just made. Though he bled profoundly from several wounds, his eyes burned with determination, and his wicked grin was a sight for sore eyes.

"I promised you a fighting retreat, did I not?" He said, throwing his spear into the air before catching it with one hand. "Come Mash, Master! There has been enough fire, and enough victims!"

"Lancer! Ready for that fighting retreat?" Ritsuka asked, readying himself for another round.

"Heh. I thought you'd never ask! You, beautiful and naïve! Got any plans underneath that hat of yours?" Cú yelled at Marie Antoinette.

The queen of France merely met Cú's smirk in kind, even as another flock of Wyverns seemed to materialize out of thin air.

~(+~0~+)~


	3. Chapter 2: Watching the Odds Grow

The frantic escape from La Charite saw the Chaldean forces seek refuge in the forests surrounding the doomed city. There, underneath the cover of the trees and utilizing the invigorating power of hidden leylines, they made their camp.

"Now that things have settled down, I'd like to introduce myself again," the young woman happily said. "My True Name is Marie Antoinette. I'm from the Rider Class. As for who I am, I'd be happy if you could examine me closely with your eyes and ears."

Ritsuka cocked an eyebrow, and subtly met Lancer's gaze. The Blue-Clad Servant had a sly little smirk on his face, and Ritsuka had to struggle not to answer in kind.

"As for why I was summoned," Marie obliviously continued, "Unfortunately, I have no idea. After all, I have no Master."

The platinum-haired man bowed gently, but never took his sharp, green eyes off Ritsuka. "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I am the same as her."

It was Mozart who managed to cover their retreat, using his Noble Phantasm to force the two vampiric Servants back.

"You both have a deep connection to France," Ritsuka said. He briefly glanced at Marie Antoinette, and felt a pang of guilt. _Some more than others._

"Maybe that is why you were summoned?" Mash suggested. "As a means to correct history?"

Ritsuka watched as Lancer got a smokeless fire started. It seemed that the famous Cú Chulainn didn't even need to be told when to be secretive. "Who knows? Anyway, this is Mash Kyrielight."

"It is a pleasure to meet you!" Mash quickly said. "I am a Demi-Servant, and I don't know what my True Name is. This is Lancer, the first Servant Chaldea summoned."

Cú waved at the French Servants, poking at the fire with a stick.

"And this is Ritsuka," Mash continued, "Our Master."

Marie offered him a little wave.

"And this is – "

"Jeanne," the Rider suddenly interrupted Mash when she started introducing Ruler. "Jeanne d'Arc, yes? The Saint who saved France. One of the people I wished to meet in my life."

"…I'm, not a saint," Jeanne muttered.

"Yes, everybody knows that's how you saw yourself," Marie continued without missing a beat. "But the way you lead your life was true, and we all know the results."

_No human has the right to speak to me anymore!_

The hateful words of the other Jeanne echoed within Ritsuka's mind. History had judged Jeanne d'Arc, and deemed her worthy of the title Saint. But what was the point in recognition if it came too late?

"That is why everyone will always remember and admire your name, Jeanne d'Arc, and your miracle at Orleans!" Marie Antoinette finished, her expression indeed one of admiration and happiness.

_No human…_

"In my time, yes," Ritsuka said, struggling to find a way to give voice to his thoughts. "But your life ended when they burned you at the stake, screaming and crying about your heresy and witchcraft. They murdered you, and look what's happening now."

He expected the women to start arguing, but it was Mozart who spoke up first. To Ritsuka's surprise, the Servant actually agreed with him. "It is just like Marie to focus only on the good parts. You always say what others want to hear. Sometimes you need to scold, or deny them." That last part he added with a wink.

"I – I don't need to hear that from you!" Marie sputtered with indignity. "You already tell me that every day! T-This is what you want, right? You piano-brain! Piece of human…garbage! You're a pervert who can only get it up for musical scales! If you like music so much, you should turn into a piano!"

Cú's expression made it nearly impossible for Ritsuka not to laugh out loud. In a desperate attempt to keep his composure, he tried to ignore how much Lancer enjoyed this and settled his gaze on Jeanne instead. She appeared to be equally transfixed by the conversation, though it seemed she took it a lot more seriously.

"I don't know how to say this, but when you insult me like that, I feel something indescribable," Mozart said with a pleasant smile. Before Marie could give voice to her outrage, the musician quickly continued. "But see? You can do it if you try! Now give the same treatment to Jeanne!"

Ritsuka turned towards the Ruler. "Mozart wants you to turn into a piano."

Jeanne chuckled, though her eyes wore a tint of regret.

"Non! I could never say something like that to a Saint like Jeanne!" Marie shot back. "Human garbage such as Amadeus exists out of nothing but flaws, but _she _is flawless."

"Which reminds me; history remembers you as a Saint, Jeanne. Why are you so adamant that you are not?" Ritsuka asked.

A troubled look crossed her features. "I held my flag high for what I believed in, and as a result, I stained my hands with blood. Of course, I don't regret that. Nor do I regret the inquisition – or my own death."

"Hmm...you died, but the war raged on," Lancer suddenly chimed in. He kept his crimson gaze directed at the fire as he spoke. "I dunno if that's wisdom or not, choosing you don't regret dyin' like that."

"I'm…not sure what you mean," Jeanne carefully retorted, her eyes narrowing.

"It's a crappy way to go, and you weren't even done fighting to boot!" Cú continued. "Is not regretting that truly the best decision?"

"Too much blood was shed!" Ruler resolutely replied. "I believed in the dreams of a little country girl. At that time, I never imagined how high the price of that dream was. No, I do not regret what happened. And never did I feel fear." Her resolution wavered for a moment, and she timidly added, "Perhaps that is my greatest sin. Only the outcome of my actions made me a saint. I do not think that's the right word for a girl like me."

Cú scoffed. "That's not what I meant." He settled his gaze on the Ruler. It had a sharpness on it that belied his relaxed way of speaking. "Lemme phrase it this way. Master!"

Ritsuka stiffened, and met the Lancer's eyes.

"Suppose you died tomorrow. Gutted by that Dragon Witch sticking her claw into your chest or something. How about it? Wouldn't you regret that?"

Ritsuka went still when he felt the gazes of the Servants settle upon him. Everybody was looking at him now. Even Mash, who remained quiet up to now, peered at him expectedly.

"…I would regret that deeply, yes," he eventually replied. "If I die, this war is lost. And humanity will die with me. I have to keep fighting, no matter what."

"Your war?" Marie answered before anyone could. "I beg your pardon, but you are so young! What manner of war could you be fighting?"

Ritsuka wasn't sure how to respond, and looked at Mash for help.

"We work for an organization called "Chaldea", a secret organization dedicated to humanity's survival," Mash immediately said. "Through a combination of magecraft and technology, Chaldea managed to create an omniscient and complete simulation of Earth's past, present and future. Through this model, we learned that humanity's future became impossible to watch. It was concluded that humanity must – or will – face an immediate extinction event, very soon."

"But Chaldea was betrayed by one of our own," Ritsuka picked up where Mash stopped. The memory of Lev Lainur turning against Olga Marie was still vivid in his mind. "And humanity is already gone. It _burned_. Every single moment of our existence has been incinerated."

He had a hard time speaking of humanity's fate like that. It still didn't feel real to him. Merely thinking about it – the enormity of it all – made him feel like he felt back when it first happened. Scared. Hopeless.

Lost.

"Gone?" Marie gasped, growing pale with horror. "All of humanity? Your friends, your mother and father? Everyone?"

Mash gasped soundlessly, and Mozart shook his head. Cú had gone still, his eyes still focused on the fire.

Ritsuka worked his jaw. He'd purposely kept himself too distracted to think about that. "Everybody, Marie."

Her lip quivered suddenly. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to – I never could imagine something like that."

Ritsuka looked away. He didn't like how Marie and Jeanne looked at him now; with _pity _written on their faces.

"Then you are humanity's last Master in this Holy Grail war," Jeanne said.

The conversation was heading somewhere Ritsuka wasn't willing to go yet. "At the moment, yeah. And Lancer, Jeanne had others willing to pick up her blade in her stead." Ritsuka leant back against the log and sighed. "There's a lot more room for regret where we're going…"

"Then I guess you should just turn into a piano as well," Cú said without missing a beat

Some laughter followed and the mood lightened up somewhat. After that, they turned their attention to the task at hand; trying to figure out just what to make of this Singularity.

"Now I understand. Not just France, then. The entire world…although in a different form, this is a Holy Grail war as well?" Marie said.

"A very irregular one at that," Mozart responded. "With this many Servants, and such strong ones at that…"

Mash nodded. "Indeed. Vlad III, and Elisabeth Báthory. One carved their name into history as a hero, and the other, a murderess…"

"But this beautiful Lancer is on our side!" Marie loudly proclaimed, performing a grandiose gesture that left her pointing at Cú in the end.

Said beautiful Lancer looked up from his fire, startled. "Err…what?"

"Yes!" Marie continued, her eyes alit with passion as she gazed at Cú. "Mozart and I don't know much about fighting, but you fight with elegance and precision!"

Well, Ritsuka really couldn't argue with that, even if Lancer looked absolutely stumped. "You hear it, beautiful man. You will be our key to victory."

Cú moved to sit up straight as he groaned and brought his hand to his face. "Do you have to say that too, Master? Geez!"

"Non, non!" Marie continued with a laugh. "You handled that other Lancer superbly! It was almost mesmerizing to watch!"

Ritsuka laughed as well, but Antoinette's words lingered in his mind. The realization hit him not a second later.

"And two Riders," Ritsuka said. "There's two Riders! You, Marie, and the enemy one. If we assume that the other Jeanne has the Grail, that means there could be more Servants for the other Classes too."

Jeanne looked at him. He saw her reach the same conclusion. "I've lost my Ruler's ability to see True Names, but there is one thing I _could _see," she said. "All of them have been given "Madness Enhancement", regardless of their alignment or background. This Holy Grail War has been completely derailed."

"Wait…so that means there could be other Servants out here right now?" Mash asked.

Jeanne nodded. "Indeed. Somewhere in France, there might be other Servants summoned by the Grail."

"Possible allies?" Ritsuka mused.

"Or more enemies," Mozart grimly shot back. "But whichever they are, it might be a good idea to start searching for them. Before the other Jeanne finds them."

There was a moment of silence as the Master and the Servants realized what that meant for their mission.

"Let's take a little break before we do anything!" Marie immediately broke that silence. "You're all tired, right? Especially you, Ritsuka!"

Ritsuka began to protest, but to his surprise –and exasperation – the female Servants wouldn't have any of it.

"My Noble Phantasm heals physical injuries, but not to perfection," Ruler sternly said, holding up a chastising finger to silence him. "That Wyvern still hurt you, so you need your rest."

"You should sleep while you can, Master," Mash added, offering him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we will hold the watch."

But Ritsuka still didn't feel comfortable with the thought that he would be letting others do all the work. Before he could give voice to his thoughts, however, Cú of all people spoke up.

"Sleep is just as deadly for a warrior as any weapon," the Lancer said in a tone that allowed no backtalk. "So sleep when you can, otherwise you'd be no better than a fool."

There was no arguing with that, so Ritsuka didn't bother. Once Mash promised that they'd wake him if or when something came up, he rolled out the sleeping bag he packed and lay down a few feet away from the fire.

When he closed his eyes, he suddenly realized that he felt _exhausted_. It was either the harrowing battle in La Charite, or the frantic escape that followed when it became clear that they were no match for the vengeful Saint, but the fighting had left him drained.

Ritsuka made a mental note to look into stamina training, but dozed off shortly after that. His dreams were filled with vivid images of fire and spears and strange, paved roads inhabited by faceless strangers. One of them stood out in particular. A person with long, purple hair. The surroundings were vague, but he could make out –

"Master! Master!"

He woke with a start. It was still dark, but something was clearly wrong. Lancer and Ruler stood at the ready in their combat stances, while Marie and Mozart stood behind them, close to the fire.

Ritsuka quickly scampered out of the sleeping bag and nodded at Mash, who had moved to wake him up.

"Master, enemy Servants are closing in!" She said.

The datapad on his wrist beeped, and Doctor Roman was quick to add his own two cents. "_And multiple lifeforms as well! I'm guessing more Wyverns!"_

"Everyone, you know the drill!" Ritsuka ordered, getting closer to Jeanne before a Wyvern could get a funny idea. "Lancer, wait for them to get in range. Mash, Jeanne, focus on defending the camp!"

Doctor Roman was right. The roar of Wyverns shattered the silent night. Before soon, they swept over the camp. Mozart actually did a pretty okay job keeping them at bay. Before, he proclaimed himself to be a magus of music and it showed; he established his attacks with musical magic, using sound itself as a means to strike at the dragons.

And, Ritsuka quickly realized, so did Marie Antoinette, albeit in a different way. He wasn't sure _what _she did. She _sang_, complementing Mozart's artful style of fighting as only she could, but Ritsuka's senses failed to process _how. _He heard her singing, he saw it hurt the Wyverns she and Mozart targeted, but he couldn't make sense of how she managed that.

He'd concern himself with that later. Right now, he felt the magical presence of something far more powerful than a Wyvern.

It had to be a Servant. They didn't even bother trying to conceal their presence.

Ritsuka turned towards the direction of the presence, and wasn't disappointed when he saw a young woman garbed in white clothing brazenly march towards them. She held a large staff in her right hand, shaped like an elaborate cross. She was beautiful, with long purple hair and flowing white robes.

It was the Rider from La Charite.

"Hello everybody," she spoke in a friendly tone. "What a lonely night."

The others sensed her arrival as well. Cú stopped his assault on the Wyverns and swiftly took up his position at Ritsuka's side, as did Mash.

"You!" Jeanne said upon laying eyes on the Rider. "Who are you?"

Strangely enough, the Rider's expression fell upon having that question posed to her. "Who? Let's see, I wonder who I am. I forced myself to be a righteous saint, but in this world, I'm a slave to a broken one."

"Jeanne d'Arc…" Ritsuka quietly said.

The Servant heard him nonetheless. "Yes. Thanks to her, my reason has left and I've gone mad. I'm doing everything I can to hold myself back. What a mess this is..."

"You're not serving her willingly?" Ritsuka asked. "We can help you. Just come with us – we'll find a way to fix this!"

She smiled thinly. "I appreciate your offer, but I cannot join you. You don't want a Servant who'll stab you from behind at every opportunity, do you?"

"Then why did you come here?" Jeanne demanded. "By yourself as well?"

At that, the maddened Saint sighed. "My task was to observe you, but my waning reason whispers that I should test you. After all, you face the Dragon Witch. Disaster incarnate, riding on the "ultimate dragon". If you cannot surpass me, you will never defeat her."

"Hah!" Cú exclaimed, spinning his spear in one hand and transferring it to a two-handed grip. "Test us all you want, Miss Saint! There is no challenge this spear can't overcome!"

"Then defeat me and plunge your blade deep into my heart without hesitation!" The Rider suddenly shouted, and the magical presence changed as she began exuding an aura of power. "Or I shall make you regret your words! My True Name is Martha. Now come to me, Iron Dragon Tarasque!"

"Master!" Jeanne yelled. "We must not let her use her Noble Phantasm, stop her at all costs!"

"Too late!" Martha shot back. "O, Tragic Drake Who Knew Naught of Love!"

A flash of red light erupted from the Rider. The shadows behind her warped and stretched, before exploding outwards into the shape of a terrible beast. It had a gigantic head, reminiscent of a lion, and a thick shell with spikes on it. It stood in six thick, stubby legs and had a long, spiked tail.

"Like a star! Tarasque!" The Saint cried out, before leaping high into the air and landing behind the beast. As if spurred on by its mistress, Tarasque lunged forwards at incredible speed, smashing through trees like they were matchsticks.

Mash grabbed Ritsuka's shoulder and pulled him behind her, shielding him from the rampaging summon. Cú, on the other hand, full-on sprinted towards the rampaging monster.

Miraculously, Tarasque missed the boisterous Lancer, who immediately went to engage Martha in close quarters combat.

"Master! Tarasque veered off at the last moment!" Mash said, sounding amazed.

"That is his Protection from Arrows skill! I didn't know iron dragons counted as arrows," Ritsuka said even as Mash grabbed a hold of his waist and threw the two of them aside when Tarasque came to a crashing halt some distance away.

The Iron Drake then exploded into a multipetaled flash of lightning, thunder and fire, enveloping a large section of the forest. The concussive force was so immense that, even though Mash protected him with her shield, it still roiled through Ritsuka's insides.

A supersonic boom echoed through the forest as Lancer struck Martha with his spear, which she only narrowly managed to block with her staff. In an instant, Cú counterstruck, slicing into the Saint's shoulder.

Both Servants radiated with strength. They shattered trees with narrow misses and gauged deep trenches into the ground as they moved with explosive force. Yet even to Ritsuka's untrained eye, it was clear who the victor of this fight would be. Cú Chulainn fought with a wild intensity that the Saint simply could not match, and her weapon was poorly suited for close quarters.

Ultimately, he gave a mighty cry and speared Martha through her chest. The Saint grit her teeth and groaned in agony, but did not strike back, even as Cú scowled and pulled his spear from her body, letting her sink through her knees.

"Lancer! That's enough!" Ritsuka yelled.

The Lancer froze for an instant, before relaxing his stance and transferring his spear to his left hand. "Tch. You held back, didn't you?" He all but growled at Martha.

The Saint slowly got back to her feet, clutching her bleeding chest. "Hold back? Of course not. But it would have been unsightly had you been massacred by a Saint."

She gazed down at her bloodied hand, then sighed. "Listen to me. You will never beat the dragons controlled by the Dragon Witch. Not the true dragon she managed to summon." She coughed, blood dripping from her mouth. "Ah…there is only one way to surpass that type of dragon. Go to Lyon…the city once known as Lyon. You know that a Saint cannot beat a dragon, do you not, Lancer? And neither can a princess."

"No…only great warriors can," Cú replied, still eying her warily.

A ghost of a smile played over Martha's crimson-stained lips. "Only a "Dragon Slayer" can. Oh Tarasque…I am so sorry. Next time I hope I will be summoned properly."

Just like the Saber in Fuyuki, Martha's body ran out of magical energy. Her body slowly fell apart into a golden dust, vanishing without a trace.

Ritsuka closed his eyes. Saint Martha seemed so peaceful when she died…he wondered if Jeanne d'Arc sent her to make a point. Forcing them to kill a true Saint for…what, exactly? Self-defence? Information? If Chaldea was to correct history, they needed to get to the dark Saint who created this Singularity. And to get to her, they needed to fight and kill her own summoned Servants.

Doctor Roman told him that he had to bear the burden of humanity's salvation. He never said it would feel like _this_, however.

"…Even Saint Martha can't resist her," Jeanne d'Arc softly said.

"She…she underwent Madness Enhancement, in addition to being summoned. Perhaps…it can't be helped?" Mash suggested.

"She held back her Madness Enhancement to tell us what she could," Ritsuka said, struggling to keep his voice level. "We won't waste that sacrifice. We're heading for Lyon to find this Dragon Slayer."

"Come on, Jeanne," Marie said to the despondent Ruler, gently taking her wrist in her own hands. "Let's get going."

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Within her castle made of sand, the saint Jeanne d'Arc sat down on her "throne". She levelled a stare at her General, who just entered the throne hall. Malice and discontent whispered at the fringes of her mind, but for this man, she ignored them. Gilles de Rais was the only person whose presence she could tolerate.

"Oh, La Pucelle, it pains me to say that Rider engaged the enemy!" The boisterous Caster cried, his voice laced with genuine regret. "Despite orders not to, she fought valiantly, and died where she stood!"

Jeanne d'Arc scowled. Frustration lit up her heart. "Did Rider commit suicide, then? It's troublesome that she retained her sanity even with Madness Enhancement."

She tapped her fingers against the dark steel of her flag. She recalled the face of that disgusting human – the one who claimed that he was willing to bear the burden of her hatred. Back then, she had considered him too weak to even _think _of acknowledging. A fragile little _insect _was not worthy of her attention. But now…

"She likely fought with all her might…" she muttered to herself. "If that is the case, we cannot let our guard down." She glanced at Gilles. "Next time, "he" and I will mobilize. I'm also taking the Servants summoned today. Please contact the Berserk Assassin."

"Understood!" The Caster cried out. "Oh, if I were who I was before, I would have stopped you. But now, you're perfect, Jeanne! You don't even need luck! Please trample over them as much as you wish!"

Jeanne d'Arc barely paid attention to his words. Her other self had clearly partnered up with that human. Weaklings grouping together, or something more?

…but why would he offer _her _his hand, if that were the case? Why would he cast his lot with that ridiculous Saint, but also speak to _her _as if he was anything but an enemy?

"Gilles," Jeanne d'Arc spoke. "Which do you think is the real one? Me, or her?"

"You were burned at the sake!" Her General proclaimed with the utmost seriousness. "Betrayed, by everyone! Charles VII left you to die, because he didn't want to pay the ransom! Not a single person rose to bravely fight for your return! _And what was the cause of this?"_

_God_, she bitterly thought.

"_GOD! It was our GOD! Mocking us!" _The Caster screamed at the top of his lungs. "Thus, we deny God! Don't we, Jeanne?"

Yes…yes…as always, his words made perfect sense. "You are right, Gilles. I have nothing left. My soldiers are gone, and my admirers fled. The king betrayed me and the bishop burnt me in the name of God. I was wrong. No, everything was wrong. Not just my beliefs. This very country that allowed my existence was wrong."

"This mistake must be righted," Gilles said, smiling.

"This mistake must be righted," she repeated. "Jeanne d'Arc was a mistake."

_I will bear your hatred, if you will just stop and listen to me!_

Nobody could bear her hatred. She was nothing _but_ hatred and vengeance. Those two concepts burned at the core of her existence. Her very life revolved around it. If someone existed who _could _bear her hatred, her existence would be meaningless!

"I will burn it all," she hissed, standing up from her throne and clutching her sword. "Burn, burn! I will rage at the heavens! I will chase him down and make him suffer in pain!"

"Jeanne," Gilles de Rais said with an almost tender voice. He reached out for her, smiling. "Please, do not put yourself under such stress. This is divine punishment, nothing more. Your revenge is righteous, and more important than a weak little Master! Let _me _handle that boy."

"You…!" She bristled, before realizing what he meant, "You…you may take care of him as you see fit," she relented. "Let's go, Berserker, Assassin. Hmm…this is getting complicated. May I use your True Names? Lancelot, Knight of the Lake; and the executioner, Charles-Henri Sanson."

The two Servants stepped forth from the shadows upon hearing their names. One, a mad dog; the other, a man whose life revolved around executing others.

And, as they were now, both had a craving – a _lust_ – for bloodshed.

"Mount your Wyverns!" She ordered them. "I shall lead you!"

The mad Knight screeched at the prospect of more bloodshed, while the pale Assassin merely smirked. "Of course, Master. Only I am fit to take the head of the queen."

That word stopped her dead in her tracks. Master…Master…she reconsidered. That boy's continued survival was a personal affront. How had she not realized that simple truth sooner? He claimed that he could bear her hatred?

Hatred. Resentment. Retribution.

Gilles was wrong. He would do nothing without her command. The boy was _hers_.

"I shall show you…hell itself…"

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Mash watched with interest as Gudao drew a hypothetical Lyon into the ground with a stick. "Let's see…if we compare the city to La Charite, we'll have a wall to deal with, along with two obvious entrances. I have a feeling these entrances will be guarded, so we'll have to scale the walls to get in there…"

It had been half an hour since Marie Antoinette wandered into the nearest city to gather information on Lyon. Knowing that the locals wouldn't trust them with any information if they went with her, Ritsuka had Jeanne, Mozart and Cú sit down a distance away from the main gates, where they could discuss their next move.

"My other self will know of this dragon slayer," Jeanne said. "She will have her troops stationed there."

"Basically, we have two options," Ritsuka replied. "If the dragon slayer is still alive, he'll be holed up somewhere inside. Doctor Roman will be able to find him. If not…if this dragonslayer didn't make it…we'll think of something else."

Mash didn't look convinced. "Master…Saint Martha sounded very concerned when she mentioned the Dragon Witch's own dragon."

Ritsuka shrugged. "If this thing doesn't work out, we'll just throw Lancer at the dragon. See if that works."

"Meh…" Cú replied, lying on his back with his hands folded underneath his head. "These French lizards aren't that tough…I wouldn't mind a real challenge."

Ritsuka smiled. Dependable as always. "You heard the man, Mash. He wouldn't mind."

Ruler didn't look very reassured. It seemed like she wanted to say something in response, but then she spotted something at the main gate, and her doubts made way for relief.

"Guys!" Marie Antoinette yelled, waving as she ran towards them. "I got the information!"

"Well done, Marie," Ritsuka said. He was genuinely surprised that the cheerful Rider was successful.

"Sorry, Marie," Jeanne said with a slight blush, embarrassment creeping into her tone. "I would cause a panic if I went into town…"

Marie waved her concerns away. "Don't worry Jeanne, we're both Servants! Now, I've got some great information. The city Saint Martha told us of, Lyon? To put it simply, Lyon was destroyed a little while ago. The refugees settled here."

"Damnit," Ritsuka sighed.

Jeanne glared at him sharply. "No cursing!"

He heard Cú snickering in the background, but chose to ignore him. "Right, sorry, I forgot."

"Don't worry Master!" Marie said, easily picking up on his concerns. "The town is simply filled with monsters that seemed to have risen from the depths of Hell!"

"Yeah," Ritsuka muttered to himself, "No biggie…"

"No, what I _mean_ to say, the town had a protector before it fell!" Marie hurried to say. "A knight with a large sword, who easily defeated the wyverns and skeletons!"

"A protector?" Mash said. "Could that be…?"

"Perhaps that is the Servant Martha spoke of?" Jeanne guessed.

"Yes, but a little while ago, the town was attacked by a large group of scary people," Marie continued in a lower tone. "Servants, probably. They overwhelmed him with sheer numbers and now, he is missing. And so, Lyon was destroyed."

"I hope he's alive," Mash quietly said. "No, I believe in the words of Saint Martha."

"She said 'a little while ago'," Ritsuka replied. "There could still be a chance."

Marie gasped, as if remembering something. "Oh, right! General Gilles de Rais marshalled the routed soldiers, they said."

Ritsuka had no idea who she was talking about, but Jeanne perked up at the mere mentioning of that name. "Gilles!" She exclaimed.

"I know," Marie said, looking a bit worried now. "He's attempting to attack Lyon to take back the city."

Mash caught Ritsuka's glance. "I'm sure it would be…difficult…to meet up with him, Master," she said, likely warning him that it would be unwise to involve outsiders.

Ritsuka didn't immediately reply. The truth was, teaming up with this General's forces actually sounded like a good idea. Both groups would benefit from an alliance, since it would minimize casualties and make taking back Lyon easier.

"Why is that?" Marie asked. "Gilles de Rais is an admirer of Jeanne, right? If Jeanne asks, he's sure to lend a helping hand?"

No, Mash was right. Any alliance between Chaldea and this General would involve Jeanne, too. It wouldn't work, no matter how they approached it.

"You're forgetting one thing, princess," Cú said, not bothering to get up. "Jeanne d'Arc is _dead_. If she walked up to him and asked for help, he'd rally the entire city against her."

"Regular soldiers wouldn't be much use against wyverns anyway," Ritsuka quickly said. Lancer was right, but he did not approve of his choice of words. "We'll handle this on our own. We'll make it work."

Jeanne looked at him with appreciation. "Ritsuka…you're right. We can handle this ourselves, easily."

"Oh, how gallant!" Marie cried happily. "That's what it means to be a boy! Jeanne, you should kiss him!"

Ritsuka could feel a light blush spread across his face. "I…what?"

As the Rider's words sunk in, Jeanne's eyes grew wide. "N-No! I mean, I wouldn't – "

"What, you guys don't do kisses then?" Marie asked, looking genuinely confused. "Maybe like when your heart feels like someone's squeezing it…I thought you did that too, Jeanne?"

"I-I do not! I do not!" Jeanne yelped out, her skin flushing crimson as well. "Only with someone I was going to marry –"

"Alright, then I will~!"

"No!" Mash yelled, grabbing Ritsuka's left arm with her still-superhuman strength. "Master, don't listen to her! Jeez!"

"Mash…arm...please…!" The Master sputtered. "Nobody's kissing – Mozart, say something!"

He was only met with mirthful laughter from the two male Servants.

The weather remained pleasant as the group continued on their way to Lyon. No wyverns swept down to assault them, no skeletons rushed from the forests to ambush them. For Ritsuka, who had never even been to Europe, it was a pleasant journey. Though he remained vigilant as he scanned his surroundings for any sign of trouble, he enjoyed the sight of sprawling hills, lush fields of grass and flowers and the distant shapes of mountains.

Marie Antoinette and Mash happily chatted away. Upon learning that this was Mash's first time abroad, the Rider took it upon herself to tell Mash everything about how she experienced France.

Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France in the eighteenth century. She was loved as a symbol of royal authority, but also hated, for that exact reason. Those suffering from the economic and social inequality were swift to turn against the nobility responsible for their lot. In the end, Marie Antoinette, along with many thousands of others, was condemned to the guillotine.

_You lack the right to participate in this battle!_

Was the vengeful Saint wrong? Marie Antoinette was as much a victim of this country as she herself was. But even so, her death came much later, for reasons unrelated to Jeanne d'Arc's own death. A woman who lived her in ignorance and luxury…how much she truly understand about the Ruler's plight?

…how much did _he _understand?

"It looks like we're almost there," Lancer said, gesturing at a distant city.

Jeanne grimaced. "The thought of having to see a ruined town again, is heart-breaking."

Her apprehension turned out to be right on the mark. At first sight, their arrival at Lyon felt like it would be La Charite all over again. When they reached the city's crumbling walls, there was nobody there to greet them.

"Doctor?" Mash said, speaking into her own wrist-mounted communicator. "Any signs of life?"

There was no response. Given Roman's punctuality when it came to providing them with information, that meant trouble.

"Doctor?" Mash tried again, to no avail. "I'm sorry. It looks like reception isn't very good here. Let's split up and search for that "Dragon Slayer" Saint Martha mentioned."

"Right. Let's see which one of us will find that person first!" Marie chimed in. "Amadeus and I will take the west side."

"Then Mash and I will take the east," Jeanne said, inching closer to the Shielder. "We should rendezvous at the castle when find them."

She looked hopefully at Ritsuka, as if waiting for his decision.

Ritsuka wasn't sure if she genuinely wanted to hear his opinion, or simply didn't want to disturb what little authority he had as the group's Master.

Ritsuka warily eyed his surroundings. The city walls looked like they took a lot of damage before buckling. It really was just like La Charite; smoking buildings, the vague smell of soot and fire…but there was something different here. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"You go up ahead. Make sure the city is clear. I'll follow up."

Mash cast him a concerned glance, before reluctantly leaving with the Ruler. Marie and Mozart left as well, leaving Ritsuka alone with Chaldea's first summoned Servant.

"Lancer?" He said, running his eyes across the broken-down gate. "I need you to head north, ahead of me."

"Sure, got it – "

"And Lancer?"

"…yeah?"

Ritsuka looked at the Servant seriously. "Could you lay low? I know you can handle yourself out there, but…I need you to put scouting ahead of fighting."

Cú's red eyes narrowed ever so slightly, before he closed them and sighed. "Man, you make me remember something really unpleasant, Master. Sure, I'll try to stay out of any fights. For now."

"That's all I need. Thank you, Lancer."

"Yeah yeah…"

With that, the spearman leapt atop one of the roofs and disappeared into the city, leaving Ritsuka on his own.

He wandered through the empty, winding streets, steadily making his way to the castle that dominated the city. Tattered clothes hung from windowsills. Doors hung busted from their hinges. He checked the first two houses, but didn't find a soul. Carpets rustled underneath his feet, some of them drenched with fresh blood. The curtains moved slowly in the wind. No valuables had been left behind…neither were there any bodies.

Things were no different in the third and fourth house. The fifth, however, definitely showed signs of a struggle. The inside of the building had been thoroughly wrecked; the tables and chairs were demolished, large holes had been smashed through the ceiling and the floor and every window was shattered. Wind howled through the broken glass, blowing past the ragged and torn curtains.

But that vague sensation in the back of his mind didn't leave. He felt as if he were walking in the footstep of a giant or…no, it was more akin to strolling in an irradiated wasteland. It was worse than La Charite.

Ritsuka passed by the rustling drapes, feeling a sense of unease slowly settle within his stomach.

He turned around just in time to see a shadow blur past the window.

Ritsuka felt his heartrate spike, and he instinctively backed away. He had a sinking feeling that it wasn't Cú, messing around with him. Moments like these made him long for a weapon himself…

He slowly cleared the rest of the rooms, before heading upstairs. His footsteps echoed annoyingly loud throughout the empty house. Eventually, Ritsuka began to notice that some of the footsteps were a little offbeat with his.

He halted. There was an extra footstep, a split-second after the echo of his faded away.

_Trouble._

A Servant stalking their opponent would never make the mistake of failing to mask their presence. In that case…in that case, this was deliberate. A Servant who _wanted _him to know that he was being stalked.

Ritsuka slowly glanced down at his Command Spells, his mind racing –

"I would not do that, if I were you," a voice spoke to him.

Startled, Ritsuka looked up. At the other end of the hallway stood a man in dark, old-fashioned clothes. A grandiose black cape had been draped over his shoulders, attached to a black collar. His gentlemanly appearance stopped there, however. One half of his face was covered with what looked like bloody bandages, or possibly a morbid mask. Both of his arms ended in grotesque claws, with longer bladelike fingers coated in blood.

"A Servant? Who are you?" Ritsuka asked. He cursed himself for so foolishly entering a place where he couldn't escape from; the doors flanking him led to empty rooms and the window behind him was locked. In the time it would take him to break through, this Servant could kill him twice over.

"Correct," the man answered in a distant tone. "People call me…The Phantom of the Opera."

Phantom of the Opera…an Assassin, most likely.

Ritsuka tried to swallow his nerves. For a Servant to so easily reveal their True Name…either he wasn't concerned, or he was going to kill him during this encounter.

"By order of the Dragon Witch, this town is under my absolute control," the Servant continued. "Now, now, now, this is the middle of Hell, where the dead live. You should not be here…"

Before Ritsuka could protest, Phantom shot towards him and grabbed him by his throat, roughly shoving him against the window. The glass cracked when Ritsuka's back slammed against its frame.

His voice adopted a low, menacing tone, and the Servant brought his bloody face close to Ritsuka's. "What are _you _going to do about this?"

The Assassin brought a sharp finger to Ritsuka's cheek when he didn't reply. Its tip was sharp enough to part the skin underneath without any pressure.

Ritsuka sucked in a breath when Phantom began dragging his claw down across his face. Warm blood dripped down from the wound and Phantom laughed.

"Ah…wonderful…tell me, where is the Saint now?"

"I have no idea," Ritsuka replied through gritted teeth. The side of his face burned and ached, begging for a simple healing spell, but the Assassin kept him pinned across the window.

"You lie! Then…you too! You too!" The Assassin shrieked. "If you do not speak to me, you will _sing _to me!"

Ritsuka gasped as the tips of Phantom's fingers spiked into his chest. He felt a sickly tearing as the muscles around his ribs parted beneath the scalpel-like fingers, which brushed against his ribs, then stopped. An anguished cry escaped past his lips and the Assassin stopped, if only for a moment.

"Yes, my songstress! Keep going, or I shall pluck out your heart!" The Assassin cried, shoving Ritsuka against the window again. This time, the glass panes shattered into a hundred pieces. "She must know! How large is the audience you brought!"

The Master felt a rising sense of panic as he twisted in Phantom's grasp, trying to wrench his fingers free. The pain was immense, but not immediately fatal. He needed to think of something. Anything!

He couldn't waste a Command Spell on this. He only had three, and this was just the first Singularity.

"So you serve Jeanne d'Arc a well," Ritsuka groaned out. "Where is she now? What does she want from us?"

"Speak not the devil's name!" Phantom shrieked, grabbing a fistful of the Master's uniform and shoving him against the window frame again.

That was the opportunity Ritsuka needed. He twisted sideways just as he was about to hit the broken window again and managed to slip out of the window.

There was a sickening moment of freefall before he hit the ground, hard. The impact rattled his body and knocked all the air from his lungs. He coughed and blinked a couple of times, recovering just in time to see Phantom leap after him, bloodied claws extended towards him.

Adrenaline rushed through his body, and he swiftly rolled aside to dodge the murderous Assassin's strike.

"Mash!" He cried. "Mash!"

His chest throbbed and ached in protest, warm blood seeping into his clothes. The pain was manageable however, and Ritsuka knew that he had worse things to worry about than a flesh wound. He scrambled to his feet and backed away.

"Flee from me then, you detestable wench!" The Servant shrieked at him, pulling his claws free from the spot the Master just occupied. "Flee like the others!"

Ritsuka looked around frantically. The street he found himself in wasn't one that could facilitate much travellers. It wasn't exactly a back alley, but it would take him some time to find his way to the castle. Time he didn't have.

Ritsuka clenched his fists, unsure of where to heads next. If he made a run for it, he might be able to call for Lancer or Mash. But were they close enough to hear? Close enough to get there in time?

The Assassin likely knew there wasn't, as he took his time walking towards him, swiping a blood-covered finger against the masked side of his face.

"There is nowhere for the living to run, in the land of the dead," the Assassin remarked, before dashing towards Ritsuka again. Like the other Servants, he was a blur as he closed the distance between the two of them in a heartbeat and wrapped his clawed hands around his throat and _squeezed. _

Ritsuka felt his back slam into the wall behind him as Phantom leaned in close again, smiling serenely as he began choking the Master. "Oh, regret!"

The Master clawed at arms holding him in place, desperate to pry them off. He gasped for air. It was useless! The Assassin's arms might have looked thin, but they were like iron.

"Regret your decision to walk in this place of despair!"

Red flashes played across Ritsuka's vision. He began to black out. He furiously kicked against the Servant's chest, but that was equally pointless.

"Regret the weakness of the human heart, blackened and burnt!"

His vision narrowed. His windpipe swelled, and he gagged. He clenched his right fist, ready to unleash his Command Spell…

"Regret –"

"Just shut up, you bastard!"

There was a flash of blue as Cú Chulainn suddenly appeared in-between the two of them, backhanding the Phantom of the Opera and sending him crashing through one of the houses.

Ritsuka slumped against the wall, his chest heaving as he began coughing. That was way too close for his liking.

Someone else dashed past him, intercepting the Assassin before he could even recover from his initial blow.

_M-Mash?_

She was on Phantom in an instant, engaging him in a furious close quarters battle. The clawed Servant took a savage swipe at her, but she easily blocked his strike with her shield before retaliating. Her shield slammed into the Assassin's stomach and he stumbled backwards, growling.

"Master, are you okay?" Cú asked, grabbing Ritsuka's shoulder. His eyes narrowed upon seeing the damage done by the crazed Assassin.

"I'm fine," he replied. He took a steadying breath and prepared a Reinforcement spell. Just one look at Mash's furious eyes, and he knew that she wouldn't need it.

The Shielder swung her shield like in an uppercut and the deft Assassin dodged it, but only for a moment. She easily compensated for their difference in agility with sheer fury, and while the second strike was a clean miss, the third wasn't.

Ritsuka uttered the Aria nonetheless. He wasn't going to take any more risks.

Mash sidestepped another angry swing from the enemy Servant, moving faster than before. Her strength was enough to stagger the Phantom even with glancing hits. His own retribution should, by all rights, have been just as furious, but Mash easily blocked his attacks with her shield.

Ultimately, she uttered a cry of anger and dealt him another punishing blow. This time, the Phantom wasn't able to mitigate the damage in any way; the sharpened edge of her shield sliced into his chest and he dropped in a heap at her feet.

The Shielder raised her shield above him, hesitated, then left the fallen Assassin alone and rushed to Ritsuka's side. "Senpai!" She cried. "Senpai, you're bleeding!"

Her shield swiftly dematerializing, Mash skidded to a halt right next to him and practically fell to the ground so that she could inspect him. She tenderly felt underneath his shirt and he winced when her probing fingers touched his lacerations.

She gasped. "Master, we need to treat this!"

"That's not – Mash, behind you!"

She gasped and whirled around, just in time to see that Phantom of the Opera had risen to his feet again. With a loud cry and incredible speed, he flung himself in their direction. She rematerialized her shield and took a defensive stance, but even with the reinforcement spell she might not be fast enough –

"Sora!"

It took a very sharp eye to see what truly happened, as it was over in the blink of an eye, but Ritsuka managed to piece it together when Cú Chulainn pulled his spear free from Phantom's heart. The Assassin's eyes had widened to an impossible degree and his mouth had opened for a curse, or perhaps a final cry of pain, neither of which he could manage to render.

"What…over already?" The Lancer said with genuine disappointment as he saw that the Phantom of the Operate began fading away, his Spiritual Core too damaged to keep him going.

"Ugh…" the fallen Servant groaned. "Still…my mission is accomplished. Though I shall never be rewarded, never. You seek the Dragon Witch?"

"What do you know about her?" Ritsuka asked, gently placing a hand on Mash's shoulder to move her.

"Forget…about the Dragon Slayer…just run. Run to the ends of the earth. You might just escape her wrath…"

"Where is she?" Ritsuka pressed on. "Where is she now?"

The dying assassin uttered a gurgling chuckle. "Here she comes…a Dragon unlike you have ever seen before…ridden by a terrible Devil."

With that, he dissolved into an ethereal golden mist, leaving behind an ominous silence.

The last surges of adrenaline faded from his system, and Ritsuka felt his knees give out underneath him. He awkwardly fell against the wall and took another, ragged breath. His hands were trembling, his breathing unsteady.

"Master, we should get you to Jeanne and Marie," Mash said, helping him back on his feet. "We need to – "

"_Finally, I got through to you!" _Doctor Roman suddenly said, appearing in a holographic image from Ritsuka's wrist. "_You need to get out of there and fast! I'm picking up a reading, an "ultra-size" lifeform! It's beyond a Servant and your vital signs don't look good! You should run!"_

"Not yet," Ritsuka sharply replied. He closed his eyes and fought to keep the pain at bay. It didn't work. "We need to find the Dragon Slayer."

"_Hellooo! Don't be obstinate, I'm also reading three Servants heading your way!"_

Lancer gripped his spear tightly. "Your call, Master! You look pretty beat up, but if you want to stay and fight, we'll do it!"

Mash wrapped her arm around Ritsuka's shoulders and allowed him to lean on her. She didn't even _budge _as she supported his full weight.

"The Dragon Slayer has to be in this city," she said. "If we turn back now, we might never be able to go back!"

"We're staying until we find him," Ritsuka decided. He cut the Doctor off before he could start protesting."Are you detecting any other Servants?"

"_I…you…damnit, yes! A faint reading from the castle up ahead. We'll talk about this when you get back, so hurry!"_

_Gonna regret that one_

"Lancer, find the others and get them to the castle," the Master ordered.

Cú hesitated. "You sure? You on your own didn't work out last time."

"No time. Mash will stick with me until we reach the castle's gates. If Roman's right – and I have no reason to doubt him – we're about to get hit, _hard_. '

The Lancer sighed explosively. "Fine. I'll send the ladies and the piano to the castle, got it."

"Come on then, let's go."

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Jeanne d'Arc stood with perfect posture at the front gate of the castle, waiting for the young Master and Shielder to arrive. Her cape billowed as the wind increased in intensity. She sensed a great evil bear down on the city, and it would soon be upon them.

Mash had left her so suddenly, so hastily, that there was no room for doubt. The Master was in danger. Jeanne had attempted to pursue the young girl, eager to help defend Ritsuka from any danger that reared its head, but the Chaldean Lancer had suddenly appeared, declaring that she needed to wait for them at the castle.

And so, with great reluctance, the Ruler had set her sights on the castle gates, from where she could sense the faint presence of a Servant.

"Look!" Marie suddenly exclaimed. She gestured at the distance, where two figures ran around the corner of an alleyway and turned towards them. "There they are!"

The Ruler frowned. She all but sensed the urgency in the Master's approach. His mage in "Chaldea" must have informed him of the enemy's approach, then. Still, something was off. His gait seemed forced, stiff even.

"Come on Ritsuka, hurry!" Marie urged them on.

"No…" Jeanne said as she spotted the red stains on Ritsuka's body, and the obvious lacerations carved into his chest. No wonder Mash had left with such haste. She must have sensed what even she had not.

Ruler could have _cursed _herself. Such foolishness! How could she lose sight of her allies like that? And one as fragile as Ritsuka Fujimaru, even!

"You are wounded," Jeanne said as the two joined them on the stairs. She briefly wondered what manner of enemy he encountered, before deciding against asking. There was a time and a place. There were a dozen things she wanted to say to the Master, but she kept her turbulent concerns under control, too. "Here, allow me to help you."

The boy stubbornly shook his head. "Not yet. We can keep going," he said.

One look at his bloodied chest and pale, bleeding face told the Ruler everything she needed to know. She carefully seized his arm and stopped him from barging inside of the castle. "Hold on, Ritsuka. This will take but a moment…"

Though he protested at first, he didn't struggle when she gently placed her gauntlet on his shoulder and forced him to stay still. Closing her eyes, she whispered a prayer. There was no need for her to use her Noble Phantasm for this. Though she too had partaken in bloodshed, she was still a Saint, and she had plenty of magical energy left.

The wound began to knit itself. It was slow, and she guessed that it would be painful as well by the look on his face, but it was better than needless suffering.

"What happened?" Marie all but demanded. "Oh, that looks bad! What happened?"

As the Master quickly explained what befell him while they were searching the city, Lancer returned from his reconnaissance.

"There's definitely guys coming for us," he confirmed. "Are the ladies done _fretting_?"

"By all means, kick the door," Ritsuka replied with no small amount of irritation.

"Fine by me!"

With that, the Lancer reared back and unleashed a mighty kick against the thick, reinforced gate, shattering whatever means of reinforcement the enemy used to seal it. The doors flung open with enough noise to alert every potential enemy within the castle to their presence, however.

"You _did _say kick," Mozart reminded Ritsuka with a serene smile on his face.

"Yeah, yeah…"

The group carefully entered the dark castle, wary and alert for any sign of the enemy. That turned out to be the right decision, as Mash immediately leapt to the front of their formation to block an incoming attack.

An enormous blade came crashing down upon her shield. The blow was powerful enough to send the Shielder stumbling backwards, and her shield was battered aside in a lightning-fast follow-up strike.

"Wait!" Jeanne cried out. "We mean you no harm!"

Their attacker was a tall man with long, silver-grey hair. His body was encased in radiant armour, though it left his tanned chest exposed. A strange, glowing scar ran down from his neck to his navel. A hole had been punched through his chest, just below the green scar's broadest section.

In his hands he held an impressive broadsword, which had stopped mid-swing when its owner heard Ruler's proclamation.

"W-What?"

When he saw that the Servant ceased his hostilities, Ritsuka stepped towards him. "We don't have time to explain, but we're on your side."

"We must hurry!" Mash quickly continued. "A dragon is approaching! Several Servants are with it, as well. We are at an overwhelming disadvantage here- "

"A dragon, huh," the Servant – the _Saber_, Jeanne now realized – muttered to himself. "I see...that's why I was summoned, and attacked."

"We can escort you out of here," Ritsuka said, offering the Saber his hand.

Though the Saber appeared crestfallen and defeated at first, his eyes narrowed as he recognized Ritsuka's Command Spells.

His posture changed, and even though Jeanne could _feel _the evil curses that had been forced upon the Saber, she still felt new power radiating from him.

"A Master…very well. Let us go!"

As they hurried outside of the castle, the air was thick with hostility and murderous intent. It was all around them now, to the point that even Marie could sense it.

"Hurry Ritsuka!" She cried when the Master faltered at the door, clutching his recently-healed chest. "It is coming!"

"_It's already there!" _The voice of the distant mage rang out. "_It's coming for you now! This is…No, it can't be!"_

The enormous beast swept down from above, crushing several houses underneath its massive bulk as it landed in front of them. It was wrath incarnated. Steam hissed from its nostrils as it beheld its next prey, practically oozing with malice.

And riding the dragon was -!

"…I was wondering what you found," the Dragon Witch calmly spoke as she dismounted the dragon. "Turns out it's just another dying Servant."

Her blazing, golden eyes settled upon Ritsuka and for a single, cruel moment, the corners of her mouth rose into a little smirk.

But upon her next exclamation, that smile devolved into a look of sheer, murderous rage. "Very well, you can all die together!"

The dragon reared its enormous head back. Its stomach radiated with heat, scales lighting up as it prepared to unleash its terrible, otherworldly flames.

"Get back Marie!" Mozart stopped Marie when she began gathering her magical energy. "Your Noble Phantasm is useless here!"

"I – I am going out!" Mash yelled.

Ritsuka was aghast. "What are you saying? Wait!"

Jeanne clutched her flag tightly. "Mash, together!"

There was no time for anything else. Understanding what the two Servants meant to do, Ritsuka gave them the go-ahead.

"Incinerate them! Fafnir!"

The dragon unleashed a hellish torrent of all-consuming flames.

"Luminosite-!"

"Deploying Virtual Noble Phantasm!"

" - Estelle!"

The wrathful inferno enveloped them in an instant. Behind them, the castle gates turned to ash, vaporized by the intense heat.

But the combined might of their respective Noble Phantasms formed a shield so formidable, so permeated with the hopes and wishers of their wielders, that the blaze of fire did no hurt upon them. A bluish barrier faced down the evil Fafnir, holding true even as the intensity of the dragon's flames increased.

The paved road bubbled and hissed, and the very air around them burst into flames. The temperature rose to incredible levels even within their Noble Phantasms, and already Jeanne could feel her energy reserves dropping.

"_Such energy!" _Chaldea's mage cried out, nearly breaking Jeanne's concentration. "_Are you guys alright! Ritsuka? Mash! Say something!"_

"S-Shut up!" Ritsuka yelled, bracing the storm of energy to grasp Mash's shoulders with his hands. "Hold on Mash! Just a little longer!"

"I…I can't…" the Shielder groaned. Her legs trembled, her defences wavered –

"No, you made it. Allow me to thank you in kind," a voice behind them said.

Jeanne dared to look behind her, and was surprised to see that the Dragon Slayer went bowed under his curses no more. He stood straight and proud, wielding his sword in one hand as he walked towards the evil dragon – walked through their impregnable defences and straight into its fire!

Concern gripped Jeanne's heart and she wanted to cry out, but a realization struck her, and she remained silent.

Fafnir and the Dragon Slayer. Then, this Saber must be -!

"If you have resurrected, I shall simply send you back to hell again, Fafnir!" The Dragon Slayer yelled.

The sight of his invincible body, the scent of his holy sword, the unshakable will that the Servant put into his voice – all of it was enough to make the dragon _shake_.

"He is trembling…" the Dragon Witch quietly said. "That Servant…could it be- ?"

"Hear me, One Who Rules the Blue Sky! My name is Siegfried! He who once defeated thee!"

The Dragon Witch's eyes widened when the Saber revealed his True Name. "Damnit, Fafnir, climb! Now!"

An aura of incredible power surged outwards from Siegfried, who lifted his great Noble Phantasm in the air. "Release! Bal…mung!"

Twilight lightning erupted out from his broadsword as he swung it with all his might. The surging wave of destruction raced forwards, consuming everything in its wake. The stone street shattered in an instant, followed by dozens of houses around them as the destructive energy spread.

If this was Siegfried burdened by layer upon layer of crippling curses, the Ruler wondered what he was like at the height of his power. Though his Noble Phantasm was aimed upwards at the fleeing dragons, its might had still demolished a good portion of the city.

But Fafnir was still alive. More importantly, that woman now knew of Siegfried's presence. She would stop at nothing to destroy him!

And the way she looked at Ritsuka…Jeanne shuddered to imagine what twisted thoughts were hidden behind her golden leer. No, it was better if they left Lyon right now!

The exertion of immediately firing off his Noble Phantasm left the Saber drained. He was visibly panting, his chest heaving with exertion as he tried to gather his energy. "Sorry…this is the best I can do…you should escape while you can."

"I agree," Ritsuka grimly said. "Come on, we are leaving!"

The Ruler watched as Fafnir grew smaller and smaller in the distance. She had a sinking feeling that her hateful counterpart would not let this go unpunished.

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

For the second time in a twenty-four hour period, Chaldea found itself retreating from an overrun city, and it bothered Ritsuka greatly. What bothered him even more, however, was the fact that the newly-treated wounds on his chest weren't so treated after all. Somewhere in-between the breath of an evil dragon, the combined energies of two Noble Phantasms and the awesome power of an angry Dragon Slayer, some of them had reopened.

"Master, don't fall behind!" Mash yelled as the Servants began scaling a sleep hill littered with bushes and well-hidden holes in the ground.

Panting, Ritsuka tried to ignore the burning in his sides. "Sorry…" he breathed. "I…I can't…"

"In that case, I shall carry you!" Mash replied.

Knowing that they'd need her shield to protect them against any ranged attacks, Ritsuka was about to gather his breath to refute her when Ruler suddenly spun to face them, stranding atop the hill. "Wait, please! I see something up ahead! That's…the French army! They're being attacked by the wyverns, we have to go help them!"

At that moment, Ritsuka wished nothing more than to have access to an Archer. These hills were one hell of a climb, but excellent vantage points for ranged combatants.

Panting, he looked over his shoulder. Still no pursuers. At least, none he could see. The landscape was filled with slopes, rivers and hills, so the enemy could be right behind them.

All the more reason to break through, he supposed…

"Lancer, Saber! Take care of those wyverns!" He commanded.

"Yeah, got it!" Cú yelled back, kicking off and clearing the entire hill in a single bound.

"Understood, Master!" Siegfried joined in, dashing after the eager Lancer to join the fray.

Marie helped him traverse the last couple of meters, and Ritsuka finally got a look at this French army of Jeanne's.

"That…can't be good…"

Chaos reigned as armoured knights, mounted horses and bowmen engaged a mixture of wyverns and reanimated corpses. The wyverns easily weathered barrage after barrage of arrows, as their hides were too thick to be penetrated by normal arrows. They swept down from above and wreaked havoc among the French. Their protective armour might have worked against the English soldiers once, but they were helpless before the ravenous dragons.

One particularly unlucky soldier was snatched up in the air by a wyvern, which wasted no time in grasping the poor soul's legs with its claws and _pulling_.

Another soldier screams turned into lame gurgles as he was crushed beneath the bulk of another wyvern, which was quick to turn its attention to the soldier's comrade.

It was like that all over the battlefield. No matter where Ritsuka looked, he only saw death and bloodshed.

If the deaths of her countrymen bothered Jeanne, she didn't show it. She wasted no time and leapt into action, targeting the creatures that were about to break through the line of soldiers.

Ritsuka watched her wade into combat with nothing but her flag and her determination to save her people. Even after everything _she _saw, her will remained as strong as ever.

How? Why? Even though these people betrayed her, even though this country put her to death, she still carried on.

Ritsuka anxiously scanned the battlefield, looking for anything he could do while Siegfried and Cú sprang into action.

At the very back of the battle, old-fashioned cannons roared as the soldiers manning them blasted the wyverns that dared to hover still for too long. One of them scored a lucky hit and struck a wyvern in the lower jaw. Everything above its neck turned into a shower of black gore, and its limp body fell from the sky.

For some reason, Ritsuka felt drawn to the raw firepower of the cannons. It only made sense to him; human ingenuity had allowed mankind to strike back at their primal fears. Where swords and arrows failed, firearms did not.

Next to him, Mozart and Marie Antoinette supported the French in their own ways, though Marie looked as shaken as Ritsuka felt.

Maybe there was something he could do after all.

"Alright," the Master said, eyeing the undead as they began advancing on the cannons. "Alright…let's go."

With Lancer and Saber's intervention, the tide of the battle turned almost immediately. Cú was a flash of blue as he sped across the battlefield, dealing death blows left and right before the enemy even knew what hit them. Siegfried, in contrast, simply waded into the melee. His existence as the "Dragon Slayer' must have bled into reality, as the wyverns that spotted him instantly turned tail and attempted to flee the battlefield. The reanimated corpses, being more akin to magical golems than living beings, did not have the same sense.

Ritsuka believed he saw those undead fly into pieces even when Siegfried did not directly strike them. Still, every enemy that escaped now would end up coming back to haunt them, so he began directing the Servants to other enemies.

"Lancer, target those wyverns!" Ritsuka ordered. "Saber, end those undead!"

"Master!" Mash yelled from the bottom of the hill, where she kept a group of undead soldiers busy. "Watch out, _there_!"

Ritsuka saw them, too. One, a black knight clad in thick, impervious-looking armour; the other, a pale-looking young man clad in a long trench coat, adorned with white shoulder pauldrons.

Though they initially ignored the ongoing battle, the black knight wasted no time in leaping into the chaotic battle upon spotting Siegfried. Its unholy, maddened screeches left no room for doubt; this thing was a Berserker.

"Saber!" Ritsuka yelled. "Stop that Servant!"

Siegfried was on the mad warrior in an instant, but his mighty strike was instantly blocked by a large, ebony blade, wielded with equal strength and finesse. The Berserker then unleashed a wild flurry of blows on the Dragon Slayer who, still bowed by his curses, was only barely able to parry them.

Mozart saw the other Servant bear down on them, too. To Ritsuka's surprise, his face twisted in anger. "…damn you!" He growled when the white-haired man was within hearing range.

The musician's silent fury was a stark contrast to Marie Antoinette's rather relaxed response. "My, what a coincidence," she said, keeping her expression perfectly neutral. "I've never forgotten your face, you lazy artisan."

The Servant calmly approached their position. Ritsuka now saw that the large pauldrons on his shoulders were modelled after horseheads. In his hands he carried a large, hooked sword. Was he a Saber too?

"That is good to hear," the man said to Marie, sizing her up with an icy look. "I've never forgotten yours either. Your face, and your pale white neck."

_Your neck. _

Marie Antoinette, sentenced to the guillotine.

The pieces of the puzzle clicked together in Ritsuka's mind. This man, whatever class he had manifested as, had been Marie's executioner in life.

"_France_," Ritsuka spat as he raised his right hand, displaying his Command Spells to the Servant. He didn't particularly likeMarie Antoinette, but he could still remember the look on Olga Marie's face when _her _executioner revealed himself.

On his life, that would never happen again.

"This is your first and only warning. Leave this place and don't come back!"

The Servant flashed him a wry smile. "And miss the privilege of getting to execute the same person twice?"

"Not only in life, but even now you're eager to execute Marie?" Mozart all but yelled. "Charles-Henri Sanson, could it be that you are genuinely mad?!"

'_Lancer, I need you atop the hill, now!'_ Ritsuka sent a telepathic message to Cú

Mozart's words struck home, as Sanson glowered at the musician and growled, "As a human, it pains me to discuss our relationship with a low-life like you."

Ritsuka gritted his teeth. Things were going from bad to worse. An entire _swarm _of wyverns descended from above, beating the sky apart with the noise of their wings and roars. They were very likely to be Jeanne Alter's vengeance for their escape.

And they weren't the only enemy reinforcements. Directing their ferocious descend upon the French soldiers was the Berserk-Assassin, wielding her spiked staff with one hand as she guided the beasts towards their prey.

Jeanne whirled around to face her, but she was surrounded by those damn wyverns. Even worse, the enemy Berserker managed to fight past Siegfried, and now flung itself at Mash. Howling like a madman, the black knight struck at Mash with a hammer blow. Mash barely managed to dodge it, and swiftly brought her shield up to protect herself as the Berserker struck again –

\- only for its enormous blade to stop mid-swing, coming to a sudden halt but an inch above Mash's shield.

Ritsuka had no time to process what happened, as Sanson suddenly raised his sword and declared, "My sword of execution is pure. It is not for the likes of you who do not submit to death. However…thinking of it, this entire nation is an execution site. Now, I shall remove your heads with one strike!"

"Lancer, take care of that ghoul!" Ritsuka cried when he spotted a familiar form racing up the hill. "I'm going for Mash!"

Down the hill, over the field, nothing but wyverns.

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

The price of a war must be paid. Even as the wyvern swarm grew like a black cloud on the horizon, even as the brave men of France fell around him, Siegfried swore that the price would be paid.

The maddened warrior he now faced was but another obstacle to be overcome.

Clang!

Balmung blocked yet another strike from the black knight, darkness caressing its form as it prepared for another offensive.

"Lady Mash!" He yelled at the young maiden who rushed to his aid. "Leave this to me! Aid your Master!"

"**ARRRRRRR**_**!" **_The Berserker screamed, striking time and time again. His strength and ferocity was to be commended, and Siegfried was uncertain if he could overcome this enemy as he was now.

But…

From the corners of his eyes, he caught the flicker of motion. He saw the Master, Ritsuka Fujimaru, running through the battlefield, heading straight towards the Maiden of Orleans. That Ruler faced down a Servant on her own, and from the bitter words and verbal abuse thrown her way, Siegfried deduced that they met before.

The woman, garbed in chains and nails and reeking of blood, sneered as the French ranks broke. Soldiers ran and fled, screaming about the wrath of the Dragon Witch.

Even if they prevailed, they could never erase the stain that the true Dragon Witch left behind. They could never undo what had been done.

And yet…

Even as he was now, rendered useless by the Dragon Witch's curses when she could not discover how to kill him, he would not stand by and watch as evil rampaged through this country.

The Berserker continued to swing at him wildly. Shockwaves of metal striking metal grated his ears, but his invulnerable body did not allow the noise to burden him. Even when their swords slammed together like thunder faster and faster, he did not give an inch of ground to the enemy

Not because of the dragons. Not because of Fafnir. It was because he understood. When he looked at Jeanne d'Arc, when he looked at the brave young Master, he understood. Though they needed Siegfried the Dragon Slayer now, they would have need of his skills again before soon. Fafnir was not the reason he had been summoned.

And that knowledge granted him strength beyond his burden.

The soldiers manning the cannons had all but fallen. Only two remained. Shaking in fear, the two watched as the chaos on the battlefield escalated beyond their ability to control it.

"Look upon them!" The pale Servant yelled at the Ruler. "Even as they flee, they curse you! Even as you fight for their sake, they despise you!"

He dodged another savage swipe from the Berserker and managed to puncture his foe's left shoulder with Balmung. They broke apart and circled each other anew. In that moment, right before the black knight struck at him again, he watched the Master yell at the soldiers to move their cannon in a new direction.

"How does it make you feel? Do you wish to die? Do you wish to _kill_? The wicked Servant continued to torment the Ruler. "Speak to me, child! I will hear it all!"

The cannon roared. A mere second later, the woman was struck in the side of her head by a cast iron cannonball, cutting her off mid-speech.

Of course, lacking any mystical properties, the immense projectile simply shattered upon striking her body. Perhaps that was the reason why the woman grew absolutely livid, her eyes shining crimson behind her noblewoman's mask.

"You - !" She shrieked. "You dare!"

"Now that I have your attention?" Ritsuka yelled back.

"I will flog the skin off your back, brat! I will slice you from throat to groin and grind your skull beneath my – "

An instant, before he was forced to defend himself against the mad warrior again, Siegfried saw Jeanne d'Arc strike, defending her Master before the indignant Servant could harm him.

The Saber allowed himself a little smile, knowing that she would not falter. Deep down, he had already known that the Ruler's resolve would never be broken, though he knew not where that knowledge came from.

The dynamic of the battlefield shifted again. Their arrival was a staggered line of rolling thunder and flashes of lightning. Dozens of artillery pieces just like the one Ritsuka took control over appeared on the crest of the on the far side of the battlefield.

They were led by a pale, dark-haired man in silver armour. He raised his sword and shouted for his soldiers to concentrate their fire on the wyverns.

Small fry like these wyverns could not have survived the withering hail of cannon fire. This new counter to the wyverns swarm was a new dynamic. It was curious how human intervention could turn the tide of a clash between Servants. Both Ruler as Lancer had their opponents on the ropes, and the Berserker would soon find itself robbed of its allies.

Even now, the devilish woman called for a retreat. Only one other Servant heeded her call, as Siegfried's opponent remained as frenzied and bloodthirsty as ever. He was graceful yet powerful. He was maddened yet proficient. He was...

…not at all interested in Siegfried anymore.

The Berserker had glanced over his shoulder for but a second, but then he caught a glimpse of Ruler's face. He lowered his sword and reached for his helmeted face with his free hand.

"…A…Ar… "

The Dragon Slayer felt a mixture of confusion and apprehension as his opponent began shuddering. Were these the lamentations of a broken man who realized what he had lost, or was this the opening stage for a powerful Noble Phantasm?

"_**ARRRRRRTHUUUUUURRRRRRRRRR!" **_

The roaring Berserker suddenly flung himself at Jeanne d'Arc like a frenzied dog, his dark blade a blur as he struck time and time again.

Jeanne gasped and ducked beneath his slashes, backing away as her flag came up to block his hungering blade. His strength seemed to increase with his fury, and the Ruler was forced on the defensive within seconds.

"That damned Berserker!" One of the enemy Servants spat. "Lancelot's gone crazy!"

Siegfried's eyes widened. He knew of the legend of Lancelot and the Knights of the Round. To think that the Knight of the Lake harboured such darkness within him!

"Leave him! We need to retreat, now!"

Like that, the enemy left the lone Berserker behind. It was a sight Siegfried had seen many times during his life, but he still felt a measure of pity for the maddened knight.

"Ugh! Why are you -?" Jeanne grunted when she blocked yet another fierce blow from the Berserker.

"_**GRAAAAAAHHH!"**_

"Hey, Dragon Slayer!" Someone shouted.

Reluctantly, Siegfried took his eyes off the struggling Ruler. "Lancer?"

The Chaldean Servant landed next to him, looking no worse for the wear. "Got enough strength left to blast that guy?"

Siegfried shook his head. "I am sorry, but I cannot unleash my Noble Phantasm yet."

"Aah, that sucks. Well, got some orders from the Master!"

Frowning, the Dragon Slayer asked, "What orders?"

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Ritsuka swore under his breath as he readied himself for what would certainly be his last attempt at magecraft for the day. Already his magic circuits were flaring in protest, but he wasn't about to stand there and do nothing while his Servants were still in danger.

Two threats still remained: the French forces who chased off the remaining wyverns and Lancelot, still attempting to cleave his target of obsession in half with his corrupted sword. It was obvious which of the two was the most pressing concern.

"Lancer! From the left! Saber! From the right!" He shouted. "Take the pressure off Ruler!"

Cú closed the distance. His spear was a blur of red as he struck, parried and counter-struck when the Berserker lashed out with an overhead swing. He immediately stabbed at his foe's exposed chest, but Lancelot swiftly leapt backwards.

That was the moment Ritsuka had been waiting for. When he finished the spell's Aria, the result was immediate and twofold. His arm flashed red for a brief moment, shortly before his body wrecked him with pain. His magecraft still took hold however, since Siegfried flashed with a reddish aura. His strength temporarily multiplied, he moved that much faster, swung his blade with that much more force.

With a fierce shout, the Saber swung his broadsword at the Berserker's head, intent in claiming his head. And while Lancelot was still capable of parrying the blow, Balmung's impact alone was enough to send him staggering.

They marched each other blow for blow, leaping back and forth as their swords slammed into each other with supersonic speed.

Siegfried shouted and green prana burst forth from his sword. Lancelot tumbled backwards, flailing with his sword.

Lancer was on him in an instant, striking at him from behind with a quick jab of his spear. The Berserker whirled around to slash at him as well, displaying far more finesse than Ritsuka thought was possible for his Class. In doing so, however, he lowered his guard, leaving himself open for Siegfried to strike, which he did.

The Dragon Slayer rammed his sword through Lancelot's chest. Blood poured down Balmung's blade, dripping to the ground and forming large puddles.

Lancelot groaned and slashed at Siegfried with his clawed gauntlets. But, crippled by Jeanne d'Arc's curse or not, Siegfried's body was as invulnerable as ever. Lancelot failed to even scratch him, and before soon, he became still.

"A-Arthur…" he gurgled.

"Arthur?" Jeanne asked, approaching the limp Berserker with a solemn expression. "You mean your king, Arthur?"

The black knight stared at her silently.

Jeanne sighed. "Unfortunately, I am Jeanne d'Arc. I am not Arthur, the king you seek."

"M-My king…" the Berserker groaned. "I…please…"

His body dissolved into a golden mist before he could complete his sentence. As the mystical glow slowly dissipated, Ritsuka wondered if he would grow used to watching Servants die. He wondered if he even wanted to.

Nevertheless, the fight was over, and they had all made it.

"Good job, Saber, Lancer!" Ritsuka called. He went to join them, but his knees wobbled dangerously.

"Master, are you alright?" Mashu ran towards him,

Ritsuka wasn't too sure. His magical circuits felt uncomfortably hot, and his chest was positively burning. He eyed the French reinforcements, who seemed torn between collapsing in total retreat, and attacking them out of fear.

He couldn't falter now .

"Not here," he muttered. Even as he said that, the dark-haired man in charge of the French reinforcements kept staring at Jeanne, almost as if he recognized her. "We should probably go."

"But…that man!" Marie protested. "Jeanne, shouldn't you…?"

Casting a forlorn look at the French soldiers, Jeanne merely sighed, before turning her back on them. "No. Ritsuka is right. Come. We will only reap sorrow if we stay here."

The Master cast one more look over his shoulder as he followed Jeanne up the hill, away from the battlefield. The open field was covered with the bodies of fallen wyverns and humans.

"I think you got that right," he said, soft enough that the others wouldn't hear him.

Mash heard him nonetheless. She gently placed her arm around his shoulder and helped him climb the hill.

Ritsuka looked down at his hands. They wouldn't stop shaking.

~(+~0~+)~


	4. Chapter 3: Into the Fire

**AN: **_it's been some time since the last update. A long time, actually. A lot of things happened in the meantime, what with the quarantine and the impact the COVID-19 virus has had. Right now, I'm working from my home, but that might change in the coming days. I'm doing alright and I can only hope the rest of you are doing alright as well. _

_One reviewer asked if there will be shipping between Ritsuka and his Servants. It wouldn't really be a Fate story without sexual tension and an eventual pairing, right?_

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Lancer vaulted the outer wall of the fortress. "All clear!"

"There were no enemies inside, then?" Siegfried asked. He sat on a nearby rock, eyeing the wall as Marie took a look at his wounds.

Lancer paused for a moment. "It's all clear _now."_

_Long live the Lancer scout team, _Ritsuka thought. He sat with his back against the warm, cracked rocks of the fortress' wall. He felt like they had been fighting nonstop since arriving in this Singularity. It was time for a break.

The fort, as expected, had been abandoned in a hurry. No soldiers or monsters to be seen, but evidence of combat aplenty. It looked like they packed up and left in a hurry, leaving behind a heap of equipment and gear.

"I guess they could not hold this fort after all," Jeanne quietly said as she knelt beside a charred skeleton "They evacuated, took casualties, then left. No time to tend to their dead."

"That means we are already within the enemy's territory," Mozart commented.

"R-Regardless, I think we should rest here for a while," Mash said, very pointedly not looking at the various corpses scattered around the building.

"Hopefully there will still be some leftover supplies in there," Ritsuka replied. "Siegfried, how are you holding up?"

The Saber grimaced. "The wound is cursed. It won't heal."

"Why were you even in that city?" Jeanne asked.

"I was summoned relatively early. I was drifting without a Master…that's when I saw the town being attacked," Siegfried patiently explained. If he was at all bothered by his injuries, he didn't show it.

"And that's when you went to rescue them?" Marie chirped, running her slender fingers across the Saber's chest. She hummed a little tune, not at all shaken after having just met the man who executed her in her past.

Siegfried did not even wince when her fingers probed his wound. "Yes. Though it's not like when I was alive. Still, with Balmung, I managed. It's not easy to pull off, protecting villagers while under attack by multiple Servants."

"And that's when the Dragon Witch showed up?" Jeanne asked.

Siegfried nodded. "She far outclassed the other Servants. She couldn't harm me – not physically at least – so she placed a curse on me instead to weaken me."

"Thus weakened, she was able to bypass your defences," Ritsuka mused. "Jeanne…do you think you could…?"

The Ruler looked at Siegfried with a concerned expression, her eyes serious. "Baptism Rites could probably remove his curse. But that would require a Servant with a considerably high rank – "

"Jeanne, you can do it, can't you?" Marie interrupted her.

"No. I tried, but my power isn't enough," Jeanne replied with a sigh, before turning back to the Saber. "With the amount of curses stacked upon you, it's a miracle you're even alive."

"Is there any way it can be done?" Ritsuka asked. Aa thought struck him, and he quickly asked, "What if I contract with Siegfried? He is a free-roaming Servant, right? Having a Master should strengthen him."

"I don't think that would help," Mash told him. "Contracting with a Servant lets you supply them with Mana. While that would be a good idea in the long run, it won't help Siegfried's situation, Master."

Well, that was one plan out of the window. "Alright. Then…Jeanne? What If I empowered you with a Command Spell?"

Jeanne shook her head. "That would certainly help, but the Baptism would not be complete. I need the help of another Saint to truly free Siegfried from his curses."

Ritsuka had the creeping suspicion that Lancer, as talented as he was, didn't qualify as a Saint. "Then the one Servant who could have helped us…"

_Is the woman we killed in the woods. _

As if reading his thoughts, Doctor Roman reappeared on the Master's datapad, looking a lot more assured than Ritsuka currently felt. "_Not necessarily! There is a possibility that, since the corrupted Jeanne d'Arc has the Holy Grail, a Saint was summoned as the result of the Counter Force. Since Saint Martha was summoned, right? Do you guys know any Saint Servants to ask?"_

None of them did. Ritsuka wasn't even sure what the Counter Force was, but he guessed that it wasn't the best time to ask about irrelevant matters. Still, the Doctor looked confident about this second Saint. Maybe it was worth a shot?

"We can't defeat the Dragon Witch without Siegfried's help," Mash pointed out.

There was that, too. And it wasn't like they had anything else to work with.

"Unless anyone has a better idea," Ritsuka started, "I guess we start looking for the Saint. Let's split up and uhh…I guess we could search the other villages in the area, see if they went there like Siegfried did."

"Although it is not appropriate to call it "fortunately," the French territories have already been reduced to half their size," Mash replied. "Searching them should be easy. How to split up is the problem…"

At that, Marie perked up. "Oh, I know! Let's settle by drawing straws! Amadeus, please prepare some!"

Ritsuka didn't think he would run into a situation where he had to argue with a Servant this fast. They were Heroic Spirits whose deeds had been engraved on history, while he was basically a third rate mage. Still…drawing straws? "Actually, I had something in mind."

To his relief, the Rider didn't look insulted at all. "Oh? What then?"

"Jeanne, Mash and I will team up." Ritsuka took a breath, hoping he looked more confident than he felt. "Lancer, I'm putting you in charge of Amadeus and Marie. You three will search together. It'll be easy."

Cú shot him a look that suggested it would be anything but easy. He didn't protest though, which was good. Probably.

Mash quickly ran up to the blue-clad Servant, holding one of Doctor Roman's wrist-mounted data-pads in her hand. "Lancer! Please take this. Let's keep in contact with each other at regular intervals."

Cocking his eyebrow, Cú took the communication device and strapped it to his wrist. "Communication via magical energy and technology, huh? It looks better on me than on him."

Ritsuka met Lancer's cheeky smirk with a shrug. "Better than the blue spandex, at least."

"Heh. I've got a couple of stories that'll prove you dead wrong! I'll tell you all about it over a drink, once we get back." Cú chuckled once, then beckoned for Amadeus and Marie to join him. "Don't go picking any fights while I'm gone, you hear me? You can't save humanity if you're dead."

"I'll be more careful next time," Ritsuka promised. "Siegfried? You're with us."

"If that's alright. Can you walk?" Mash chimed in.

"I have recovered enough to move. Anything but combat will be fine." The Saber slowly climbed back to his feet. "I'm going to be making trouble for you a little while longer. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You performed admirably against Lancelot," Ritsuka assured him.

"Indeed, indeed~!" Marie said with her beautiful singsong voice. "Don't be getting into too much trouble while we're gone. Come Lancer, let me show you the beauty of France!"

It was nothing more than a parting line, a comment meant perhaps to show her confidence in fighting for her home country, or her genuine love for France. But the core of this "beautiful France's" problems, combined with how Marie Antoinette died when she was still a human, bothered Ritsuka a great deal.

"I don't get it," he said a couple of minutes later. Siegfried, Mash, Jeanne and him were traveling through the green hills of France's countryside, searching for villages or cities that had weathered the storm.

"What do you mean, Master?" Mash asked.

"She loves this nation so much, she loves its _people_ so much, even though they killed her," Ritsuka said. "I get that the majority of the population wasn't involved in her death, but she doesn't seem upset at all."

"It's complicated. _People _are complicated," Jeanne said. "I don't know all the details of Marie's death, but I don't think it was a problem caused by France itself."

He couldn't help it. Her words struck him, hard, and he replied without thinking. "No, but you two were both betrayed by the people you loved. And you were both murdered because of it. Why bother fighting for such people?"

For a moment, one could have heard a pin drop in the plains. Jeanne levelled a stare at the Master, her brilliant sapphire eyes locking with his. Her expression was unreadable. Not for the first time, Ritsuka felt like Jeanne knew exactly what was going on inside of his head. "That is the second time you mention this. Why does this bother you so much?"

Mash's purple eyes widened as she turned to stare at him. She had to have heard the bitterness in his voice, but she remained quiet.

No words were needed. She knew the wounds, and bow fresh they still were.

Ritsuka didn't want to make this about him, but…he couldn't get it out of his head. The way she screamed in desperation, the way Lev just _smirked _as he flung her into CHALDEAS…

"There was a…a woman," Ritsuka started, looking away from the Ruler's piercing gaze. "Young, around my age. Olga Marie, was her name. She was our boss, our…our leader, you know? Got that position when her father died. Yeah." He paused. "She took that job seriously, looked up to one man and one man only. Saw him as her mentor, her - her superior." His breathing was getting faster. "This man, uh…turns out to have planted bombs all over Chaldea, placing some of them directly underneath Olga. He sets them off, right as we're Rayshifting for the first time."

Siegfried looked away. Jeanne's glare softened, and her eyes widened when she heard that last part, but Ritsuka barely saw it. He was back in that cave in Fuyuki, watching helplessly as Lev sneered at them, as the man used the Holy Grail to connect time and space to Chaldea's control room…

"Killed her body then and there, but her mind was still with us, her _soul _was still with us," Ritsuka continued, quietly shaking his head. "He used the Holy Grail to destroy her soul, once the mission was over."

Some details were best left burned. Buried.

"…Master…" Mash whispered.

Ritsuka snapped out of the memory, realizing that he was taking this farther than he liked. He had to banish those feelings as best he could. There was no place for them here, anyway. This wasn't about him.

"I'm sorry for making things too personal like that, but…betrayal doesn't sit well with me, right now."

"No, I understand," Jeanne said, speaking slowly but clearly. "I'm sorry, I did not know. Still, do you believe the actions of an individual symbolize the actions of their nation?"

There were a dozen ways the Master could have answered that question. As he was now, he felt tired and more than a little stressed out. He hadn't meant to go off like that. "No, I suppose not. Even so, I can't help but hate Lev for what he did. Marie seems to love even the people who ended up killing her."

"It might be easy for me to say this, but I don't think you should fight with hate in your heart," Jeanne said. "And I think Marie believes that too."

"I am sorry for interrupting, but might I ask what _you _fought for?" Siegfried asked. He looked terribly guilty for someone who asked a simple question.

The Ruler slowed her pace just a bit, allowing the Saber to catch up to her. "I fought for France's people because I loved them. That is why I could never hold a grudge, no matter what the other "me" might say."

Ritsuka thought it odd that his own thoughts seemed to align more with the alternate Jeanne than the Ruler herself. Odd…and a little frightening. Marie Antoinette's death was a political mess that ended up killing thousands of other innocent people. But the death of Jeanne d'Arc was deliberately engineered by the very people she fought to protect.

He couldn't accept that. There was no way.

It didn't take long for a distraction to arrive in the form of more skeleton warriors. They came from the surrounding forests, as they always did, though some of them seemed to arise from the scorched ground itself.

Ritsuka hung back this time, the memories of that Assassin's clawed fingers still fresh in his mind. Siegfried stayed near him, allowing Mash to go on the offensive this time.

It was strange, as he didn't know the woman, but Jeanne d'Arc hadn't struck him as the type of Servant that summoned familiars to fight in her stead. Summoning dragons and dragonkin seemed more of a symbolic one. As the "Dragon Witch", she now harnessed that which the nation had used to murder her. A display of terror and a way to prove she had risen above her death.

Which begged the question: why summon a horde of skeletons and undead? Wasn't that more of a Caster thing?

While Jeanne and Mash took care of the enemies, Ritsuka contacted Chaldea.

"_Ah, Ritsuka, it looks like you're near Tiers. I scanned - "_

"Actually Doctor, I wanted to ask you a question. So far, she has deployed a Rider, a Berserker, two…no, three assassins and a Saber, if I recall correctly. Do you think any of them are responsible for summoning these skeletons and zombies?"

Romani seemed thoughtful for a moment. "_Any Servant with a sufficiently high level of magecraft or a Noble Phantasm related to the art of summoning could manage it. Most of the times, that would be a Caster."_

"So that means the other Jeanne d'Arc has a Caster on her side?" Ritsuka continued.

Roman shrugged. "_It seems likely, yes. Of course, we can't actually confirm that."_

Jeanne finished the last of the shambling corpses by delivering a crushing blow to its head with her banner, slamming the creature into the ground in the process. It didn't rise again.

"Somehow, we managed," she remarked. "But to think all of France is crawling with these things…"

"The military seemed organized enough to strike back," Ritsuka replied. "I think a human could take these, albeit with some training."

Jeanne didn't look too convinced by that. Maybe it had something to do with General Gilles de Rais. Jeanne knew him during her life, and this Singularity was the immediate aftermath of her death. Of course she was concerned about him.

"Regardless, did Doctor Roman say we were about to reach another city?" Mash asked.

"Yeah. He said we were approaching Tiers."

Jeanne smiled. "Ah, Tiers. It's famous for its knives. The people there are proud, hard workers."

"I'd like to see those knives for myself then," Ritsuka replied, managing to mirror the Ruler's smile with one of his own. He liked the idea of a fifteenth century knife as a souvenir. After all, according to one of the lectures, people who Rayshifted to the past could take items with them into the present. Useful for gathering artefacts and supplies.

And who knew? It might come in handy in a pinch.

"Are you a knife type of person, Master?" Siegfried asked, his tone still tentative.

Ritsuka shrugged. "I can't fit that cannon into my pocket, so…"

Jeanne smirked and shook her head, while Mash merely laughed.

They were getting closer to Thiers now. So far, it looked like it hadn't been destroyed. As Mash communicated with Lancer's group that they were heading into Thiers next, Ritsuka asked if Roman could detect any life signs.

"_Checking…ah, it seems that there are two Servants in the city."_

"Maybe we should make contact with them, see if they won't help us," Ritsuka replied. As he checked Thiers out again, he spotted a sudden belch of flames erupting from its centre. "Oh, that can't be good."

"Flames just went up in that town!" Mash cried out.

"But I don't detect any enemies?" Jeanne replied.

Ritsuka met Siegfried's gaze. "Let's check it out nonetheless. Siegfried, stay at the rear."

"I'll go up front!" Mash said. "E-Everyone, follow me!"

Contrary to the last couple of times they tried to approach a city, nothing bad seemed to happen. No Wyverns, no undead familiars, nothing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and yet Ritsuka couldn't shake that feeling of impending disaster. A sense of doom creeping up on him, but he couldn't make sense of it.

The Master led the Servants deeper into the city, towards the centre. It wasn't hard to find out where to go; they just had to go in the direction everybody was running from. With Mash leading them and Doctor Roman egging them on, they soon made it to the city centre.

Ritsuka expected another dragon attack, or maybe enemy Servants raiding the city. Heck, even another zombie attack wouldn't be out of the ordinary.

Instead, the large, open square in the city centre was dominated by two attractive girls shouting insults at each other.

"You! You, you…cheeky squirrel from the East!"

"Hahaha! Who is the cheeky one? Do you really think a failure like you can beat a true Dragon like myself, Elizabeth?"

One was a slender young girl, with mid-back length pink hair and a black, goth-like dress and skirt. The other, a girl who didn't look much older, was clad in a turquoise kimono. She also carried an old-fashioned fan in her hand.

Both of them had horns. Given the nature of the enemy, these Servants – they really couldn't be anything else, what with their appearance – had to be draconic in nature.

As Ritsuka tried to process just what he was looking at, the girl with the circular skirt cried out in frustration and yelled, "I'm so upset! I'll deal with Carmilla later, you die first! You creepy _stalker!_"

"I am NOT a stalker!" The other girl yelled back. "I am a devoted bodyguard who acts like a spy! I, Kiyohime, am a woman who lives for love!"

Ritsuka couldn't help but stare at the spectacle. If anything else, he had a couple of True Names to work with now. And in case of an emergency, Siegfried's existence as a Dragon Slayer might work on these girls if they really were draconic. It was just…so different from the last encounter with Servants. was this…normal?

"Your love violates human rights!"

"I don't want to hear it from a pervert with a fetish for blood torture! I imagine that you were doing it…as doing THAT, weren't you?"

If "that" actually meant "_that",_ then Ritsuka wasn't quite sure what to do here. This was something he'd gladly let Cú take care of in his stead.

But the boisterous Lancer wasn't here, and these Servants weren't actively burning Thiers down, so…

"Uhm…excuse me, ladies?" Ritsuka said, raising his voice so that the bickering Servants would hear him.

And hear him they did.

"What!" One snarled.

"I'm busy right now! Come back the day before yesterday!" The other snapped.

Then they looked at each other again, and Ritsuka could _feel _the tension rising.

"You won't be busy long! Until the next Holy Grail War, that is!"

"Hmph. Frill-necked lizard."

"Japanese Rat Snake!"

Ritsuka turned around and looked at the others. "Am I…? This isn't just me, right?"

"No," Jeanne sighed. "This is not how Servants should behave…"

"Since I'm useless and can't fight, I won't say a thing," Siegfried added. "I'm sorry."

In that case, it was time to step up. Ritsuka approached the two bickering Servants, raising his voice as he did. "Okay, that's enough. .Both of you, knock it off."

They heard _that _alright. Both of them turned and _leered _at him, and the Master almost wished he'd kept his mouth shut. If looks could kill, he'd be splattered all across Mash's shield right now.

"What?"

"Did you just say something?"

Perhaps sensing the latent killing intent shifting, Mash quickly joined Ritsuka. "Well, just that you shouldn't – "

"Back off, puppy!" The girl with the skirt barked at him.

"Recklessness and bravery aren't the same. Are you stupid?" The other, Kiyohime, demanded.

Reckless? Stupid?

…_puppy?_

Ritsuka gritted his teeth. After everything that happened the last couple of days, he just didn't have the patience to deal with this. And besides; that last remark stung _way _more than it should have. "Look around, you two! We're trying to save France from the enemy dragons and you're too busy _being _enemy dragons! If you're Servants, act like it!"

Mash gasped, looking at him in shock. "M-Master? Hey Master, aren't you a little too upset?"

The dress-wearing Servant stomped the ground with her high heels. "Now I'm pissed!"

"You said it. You'll regret your words from the bottom of Hell! Elisabeth, let's get started!"

Ritsuka rolled his eyes. _Oh, look. _Now _they're agreeing._

Siegfried raised his sword and stepped in front of Ritsuka, while Mash and Jeanne intercepted the two girls before they could reach the Master. Elisabeth swung her weapon – _is that a spear? – _only for Mash to slam it away with her shield. She tried to follow up by crashing it into the apparent Lancer's flank, only for the Lancer to roll out of the way and leap for one of the nearby roofs.

Kiyohime proved to be a draconic Servant in every sense of the word when she angrily flung her fan, sending a blast of fire towards Jeanne d'Arc.

The flames were hot, but not Fafnir levels of hot. Did she lack the mana necessary to keep her going, or was she simply holding back?

The Ruler swiftly darted aside to dodge the flames and tried to close the distance, but Kiyohime was an agile combatant, constantly leaping back and forth to keep the Ruler at bay. With every gesture of her fan she conjured more magical fireballs to batter her enemy.

Jeanne's Magic Resistance allowed her to shrug off whatever hits Kiyohime got in. She danced in-between a trio of fireballs and appeared in front of the Servant, who couldn't get out of the way fast enough. The banner slammed into her side, the impact sending her crashing into one of the houses.

The Ruler wasted no time in darting after her opponent and pointing the tipped edge of her banner at her chest.

"Please! We do not wish to fight!" Jeanne quickly said as the Servant struggled to get to her knees.

Kiyohime moaned softly as she touched her ribs, wincing. "You brute. Attacking a delicate woman like that! Have you no shame?"

Ritsuka entered the ruined house after Jeanne, observing the fallen Kiyohime as she leered at them.

She didn't seem like the others. Carmilla and Lancelot and Sanson had all been hell-bent on trying to kill either Marie, or Jeanne herself. But this girl? She had been perfectly content just arguing with that other girl before Chaldea came to interrupt them.

Ritsuka placed his hand on Jeanne's shoulder, carefully nudging his way past her.

Then, he offered the fallen Servant his hand.

"Kiyohime, was it?" He said, offering the girl a reassuring smile. "I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru. I don't think we should be enemies. In any case, we don't want to fight you."

Kiyohime stared at his hand for a couple of seconds, clearly at a loss for words. She blushed lightly, then took his hand. She felt surprisingly light. While her wrist felt thin and frail, her grip on his hand was tighter than he expected.

"Y-Yes…" She muttered. "I – I am a Berserker, but I'm not like the others. I still have my reasoning."

Ritsuka gently pulled her back to her feet, glad that this worked out in the end. He was about to reply when he suddenly heard high-pitched screaming outside.

_Crap, the other Servant!_

"Jeanne, let's got help Mash!"

"No need," Siegfried's voice sounded from outside the house. "Though I am useless in fighting directly, I was somehow able to help her restrain the enemy."

Ritsuka looked at the Ruler, who seemed equally puzzled by that remark. They hurried outside through the hole their fight left in the house, only to see Mash had pinned the other girl against the floor. She was struggling mightily to get free, but Siegfried had pressed the edge of his sword against her neck, ready to end things then and there in case she did escape.

"How dare you!" She screeched, flailing wildly with her clawed hands. It was almost as if she was oblivious to the dragon-slaying blade pressed against her neck. "I demand you let me go!"

Ritsuka got down on his knees in front of her. She didn't _look _hurt, but he imagined that fighting Mash and Siegfried had done a number on her. "If we let you go, do you promise to stop fighting us?"

The girl looked at him like he just told her that the sky was green. "Y-You idiot! You're the ones who attacked _me_!"

"That is not true!" Mash replied, struggling to keep the Servant pinned underneath her shield. Her boots scraped across the paved street as she tried to find more leverage, gauging deep trails across the stones. "You initiated the hostilities!"

"Ah, Elizabeth," Kiyohime said, casually strolling past the struggling Servant. "You did bring this upon yourself, you know?"

"Shut up, you loser snake!" Elizabeth cried out. "This is your fault!"

Whatever her problems with the Berserker were, that comment was enough to get her to calm down somewhat. She lowered her head against the ground, moisture gleaming in her eyes.

"I think that's enough," Ritsuka said. "Siegfried, Mash, let her go."

Siegfried glanced at him, then hesitantly removed his sword. Mash glanced at Elizabeth with uncertainty, before lifting her shield and stepping off the girl.

Elizabeth immediately hopped to her feet, causing everybody to tense up again. However, she merely dusted herself off, pouting.

"A-Anyways!" Mash quickly said, "You haven't seen any other Servants other than the Dragon Witch or Carmilla's group, then?"

"That would be a shame," Jeanne said.

"What is that about shame!" Elizabeth bit at the Saint. "You guys met ME, and it's a shame?"

"I'm sorry, we're only looking for a Saint," Ritsuka told her. "_Are _you a Saint?"

"Hah, of course not," Kiohime said, smiling innocently as she tapped her chin with her fan. "She is as unsaintly as they come. I only know of one Saint, if you mean someone whose teachings took root deep within this nation."

"Really?" Mash said.

"Yes. I met him before I met Elizabeth. I almost fought him, but he realized I was a genuine Berserker, and he sheathed his sword again. His True Name is Georgios. I believe he is quite a famous Saint around here."

"That's great! We – "

"_Georgios! The Saint referred to as St. George! Yes, he would be perfect. Do you know where he went?"_

Kiohime's eyes narrowed as she stared at Roman's holographic image. "…yes, he went the opposite direction as me, to the west. Who is this man?"

"That's just our Doctor Roman," Ritsuka said. "He's uhm…not important right now. Mash?"

"_Wait, what do you mean not important-?"_

"Right! The west, that is where Lancer and the others went. Commencing communication!"

"_How am I not important?"_

"Doctor, please, not now."

"Ah, Master, they made contact!" Mash exclaimed. "That is good news, Lancer. Tell Jeanne – wait, what is that?"

Ritsuka tensed up. "Mash?"

She turned to face him, her eyes wide with shock. "Master, it's the Dragon Witch! She's coming for them!"

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

The Queen of France looked up at the sky, where the swarm of dragons grew closer still. She could easily make out the bulk of the massive Fafnir. They would be upon the city in minutes.

"We don't stand a chance against her," Mozart said. "We must retreat while we can."

Behind her, the Saint did not budge an inch. "The civilians aren't evacuated. The mayor has entrusted me with their protection. I must fulfil that order, or else, I won't be able to call myself a Saint."

"Hey, you know you'll die against her, right?" The beautiful Cú Chulainn told him. The Child of Light would have stayed behind and fight to the death himself, Marie would not doubt that. As a Servant of Chaldea, the Lancer would kill anyone who stood in humanity's way. But even he, with his crimson spear, could not kill the Dragon Witch.

But he could not even try. He had been ordered to live.

"I know. But even so, I cannot abandon them."

Marie smiled. _She _was under no such obligation. Ritsuka Fujimaru had not expected her to seek out combat, so he had not ordered her to avoid it.

He was not wrong. This was technically not her war. And she could never hope to understand what the Dragon Witch felt. But even so…this was France. _Her _France. And she would not watch it burn, not while she still drew breath.

"Lord Georgios, you are a man who is thick in mind and body," she said, turning to face the Saint.

"What was that?" The man asked.

"But, the part of you that is terribly cute has touched my heart," Marie continued. And so…please allow me to take over that duty!"

"What?" The Lancer asked, clearly not understanding what she meant. How could he? As cute as he was, his culture was too different, his soul forged by his own experiences.

But Mozart did understand. He stared at her, at a loss for words.

So Marie explained. "I am the Queen of France. Even though that is the future from here, neither past nor present make much difference. Protecting those civilians is important for me, too, and you are given a duty that can change everything. Oh Saint George, please go find Jeanne d'Arc and lift the curse from the Dragon Slayer. In the name of Marie Antoinette, I will make sure to protect this city!"

"Marie, no!" Mozart cried out. "You cannot! She and her psychos will kill you in an instant, and it would not make a difference!"

"No." Cú Chulainn said, his expression calm and even understanding. "She was summoned by this land for a reason. If she believes she found that reason, who are you to stop her?"

_Oh, Lancer…_

"How can you say that!" Mozart shouted at him. "You don't understand!"

Marie shook her head. "No, Mozart. I am sure I was summoned precisely for this moment. Not to fight, not to kill, but to protect the people."

"But…we just…since we were children…"

Tears streamed down his face. Marie was sure that a part of him understand that this had to happen, so she reached out and tenderly cupped his chin. "Make sure you play the piano for me, when we reunite."

He choked back a sob. "Marie…"

Oh, how she longed to hold him. But she could not tarry here; the enemy was already upon them. She was surprised the others had not noticed yet. Her combat instincts were terrible, after all. Perhaps this too was fate?

Never taking her eyes off him, Marie asked the Saint, "Is this agreeable to you, Lord Georgios?"

The Saint uttered a weary sigh. "…if you are fine with it, I will humbly yield my role to you."

Marie Antoinette smiled. If only Jeanne were here to see her off. As short as their time together was, she felt like it was a great honour to fight under her flag.

"Then go," Cú said, his voice sounding like tempered steel. "Bring the Saint to our Master, Mozart. He'll guide you from then on. He might be inexperienced, and a weakling at that, but he knows what to fight for."

Marie blinked with surprise as George turned to leave, dragging a protesting Mozart with him. Why didn't the Child of Light go with them?

"Lancer?"

"Don't misunderstand me, I have no intention of staying and dying here," the great warrior exclaimed, twirling his spear in one hand as if readying himself for a duel. "My Master ordered me to live, and I will honour his orders. But! I cannot stand by and let a young girl face her executioner all alone!" His eyes grew almost bestial as he bellowed, "Come out, you butcher!"

Like that, Charles-Henri Sanson stepped out of the shadows, his face blank and emotionless. "Of course, I must reek of blood to that dog. It makes no difference; execution requires qualifications, for both the executioner and the executed. "

He began approaching them as if he didn't have a care in the world. "No other person has the right to execute you. You should have realized that, Marie. And yet, you brought others into this."

Cú Chulainn's spear slammed into the stones in front of Marie, its barbed head easily slicing through the thick stones. "Master was right, you are a ghoul! You call me a dog, but you are nothing but a wild animal yourself!"

"Hold on Lancer, Sanson," Marie said, holding her hand out to stop the Celtic warrior. "I know that you are a wonderful executioner. You are cruel, merciless and inhuman, but you never once mocked those you killed. You guarded the guillotine with great respect, so I do indeed trust you. But…does that mean that you alone have the right to kill me? Do I alone have the right to fight you? Isn't that absurd?"

"It's not absurd. I was born into a family of executioners, and was only taught how to execute."

Marie felt the Lancer behind her shift, impatient. She knew how eager he was to fight, and yet he remained still enough to let them have this conversation. For that, she was grateful.

"No compromise," Sanson continued, oblivious to the bloodlust of Chaldea's Servant. "It's not only about dedication, I am particular about the method. The technique. It's natural for a good executioner to not inflect pain on the criminal. But I…I see beyond that."

Then, Sanson grinned, and Marie felt a chin run down her spine.

"I see the…ecstasy. The moment it feels so good that "it will kill you". That is the type of beheading I dedicate myself to. The best slice of my life was my "kiss" for you."

In a strange, morbid way of things, Marie understood what he meant. But clearly, Cú Chulainn wouldn't have any of that.

"I don't know what type of Madness Enhancement you're under, but it's clear that you're beyond talking!" The Lancer all but growled. He changed his posture, leaning forwards while readying his spear. "I have just enough time to see this through!"

Marie met his fierce, proud gaze, and knew that he too was touched by the "injustice" of her death. He was just like his Master. So alike. Neither of them understood, but they could not ignore their feelings. When faced with Charles Henri-Sanson, the embodiment of the "injustice" that France committed upon her and Jeanne d'Arc, they could only act as men.

And perhaps, that was alright. For the future, nobody should linger in the past.

"You cannot stop this from happening!" Sanson growled, his magic signature increasing in strength. "This was why I was summoned, to give you the final ecstasy of the execution once again!"

An unspoken question passed between Lancer and Ritsuka's mental bond, for the Lancer grinned. It was a feral, angry kind of smile, which was many times more menacing than Sanson's creepy smirk. "Finally! Hear this, ghoul! With my Master's grace, I shall show you the true meaning of an execution!"

In that instant, Marie believed she experienced the height of a Holy Grail War for herself. The three Servants, all of them gathered to fight for their believes, called upon their final achievements, the crystallization of their legends.

"Executing the sentence…"

"Wishing to blossom, visibly in the open! Dancing, to blossom in full glory!"

"La Mort Espoir!"

Its True Name manifested, the guillotine materialized around her. But this time, she would not wait for its judgement.

"Passing through! Guillotine Breaker!"

If the guillotine was the embodiment of Sanson's existence, then this was the representative of the glory of the French monarchy. The horse was beautiful, made out of glass and imprinted with lilies. The embodiment of her life. The symbol of the crown.

Radiant particles of life shattered the wooden structure of the guillotine, freeing her from its ghastly restraints. Its freedom could never be tarnished by the hands of humans. Sanson had not the authority to judge it.

"That's impossible!" Sanson exclaimed. "How – "

"I'll have your heart! Gáe Bolg!"

The third Noble Phantasm activated. In a single heartbeat, the mana around them froze in mid-air. Marie had no knowledge of the martial arts or the mysticism of magic, but even she recognized the potency of the spear. The knowledge that the Holy Grail provided her with told her that this was a sure-kill technique. Unlike Sanson, whose heart had been broken and his judgement defeated, there was no defying this spear.

Lancer was a blur, striking Sanson directly with the crimson lightning. Marie caught a hint of the attack's nature, almost feeling Sanson's heart be destroyed before her comrade even moved. The spear struck its goal, that was what her eyes told her.

Yet somehow, she felt like Sanson had died the moment Lancer invoked his Noble Phantasm.

The barbed spear plunged into Sanson's chest and he staggered backwards, a fine mist of blood bursting from his mouth.

With that, the Lancer withdrew his spear and stepped back, his ghastly work finished.

"But…I've…killed so many…" Sanson groaned as he fell to his knees.

"Our relationship ended that day, Charles Henri-Sanson," Marie said. "Because your blade was truly rusty. You've killed so many people that you lost your way. You honed your skill as a killer, but that is not the same as an executioner. You became too great of a killer, and your executioner's blade became rusty as the result."

Sanson collapsed. "I…I thought…if I granted you a better death…you would…forgive me…" he muttered, his voice growing weaker with every syllable uttered.

Marie smiled sadly. "You are a pitiful adorable person. I don't hold a grudge against you. From the beginning, you never had the need to be forgiven by me."

Sanson closed his eyes. He whispered something, but his Spirit Origin no longer had the strength to maintain his existence. He faded away in a cloud of ethereal gold, the last remnants of his existence witnessed by the three individuals who ended up deciding his fate one final time.

Lancer sighed, then turned his back to Marie. "This is where I leave."

"Why?" The Dragon Witch spoke, lifting her darkened banner onto her shoulder as she stepped into the clearing. "Do you not long for a stronger opponent, Servant of Chaldea?"

Cú Chulainn shrugged. "'Course I do. But that kid ordered me to return to him alive. I don't understand your grudge, and neither do I want to. That's for him."

"You are not going to leave here alive," The Dragon Witch growled.

The Lancer ignored her. "Hey, missy?" He asked of Marie.

"Y-Yes?"

"Almost forgot to tell you. Master has one final order for you!"

Ah, so Ritsuka knew. She hoped he wouldn't be too upset with her, the next time they met. "What is it?"

Marie was certain that the final, confident smirk of the bestial Lancer meant that she had made the right call, after all.

"Give them hell!"

"As if!" The Dragon Witch snapped, already conjuring a storm of fire that would be sure to consume the Chaldean Servant.

But the Child of Light was already gone, and in the end, all that the Dragon Witch could do was unleash her rage upon an empty city and the lone, content Queen of France.

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

With most of the civilian population gone, Thiers now served as a temporary base of operations. Elizabeth and Kiyhime managed to put their differences, enigmatic as they might be, aside to aid Chaldea. After all, they too had been summoned into this land by the Grail.

Lancer had only just returned, bringing back Amadeus and Saint George.

But not Marie Antoinette.

After a brief introduction from both sides, Mozart had taken to explaining just what went down in that city. Ritsuka, meanwhile, had taken Lancer apart for a more undisclosed conversation.

"_And you're sure about this_?" Ritsuka mentally asked. He still had to get used to telepathically communicating with his Servants, but it worked well enough.

Cú leant against the doorframe of an abandoned house. A dozen meters to their right, Mozart recounted his own version of the engagement to a distraught Mash and a downcast Jeanne.

"_I didn't go back to confirm it, but yeah. That queen's dead,_" Cú's voice echoed within the back of the Master's mind. "_The power of the Dragon Witch is immense. I'm not sure even my spear could kill her."_

"_Understood_," Ritsuka replied with as much grace as he could muster. He was supposed to be the leader. As humanity's last Master, he had to be the one with the answers. In the heat of the moment, with adrenaline rushing through his body, he had been convinced that Marie's decision was the right one.

"_Mozart is taking it well, all things considered. I thought he and Marie…?"_

_Don't feel bad,_ the Caster had told Jeanne. _Had you been there, she would have done the same thing._

Cú shook his head, almost imperceptivity. "_Sometimes, a man has to put his emotions behind everything else."_

That, Ritsuka could understand. He just didn't know how to dos so, yet. He climbed back to his feet as well and approached the rest of the Servants, just as Mozart finished.

The musician looked up and met his eyes. Ritsuka thought he saw something in the man's gaze, but neither of them spoke up.

"Anyway, I'm a bit tired," Amadeus continued after a quick, but meaningful pause. "I'm going to excuse myself, call for me when you're ready to leave."

"Wait - !" Mash said, reaching out for the musician.

"Mash…" Ritsuka said. "Come on, we need you here."

She clearly didn't understand, still transfixed in Amadeus as he walked away. "But – "

"It's fine," Elizabeth said, reaching out to Mash and gently nudging her towards Ritsuka. "Everyone has moments where they want to be alone."

She was too right.

"It's good to have you with us again," the Master then said, raising his voice so that the other Servants could hear him as well. "Marie Antoinette gave her life so that we could have a chance to fix this mess. That's what we're going to do. Today. Saint George…I apologize for having to order you around so soon after meeting you, but I need you and Jeanne to begin lifting the curses on Siegfried."

The Saint clasped his fist against his heart. "Of course, Master. Think me not ignorant of humanity's plight. I shall do whatever I can to aid you."

"When do we begin?" Jeanne asked.

"Right now. Jeanne, Siegfried, when this is done, we'll make the contract official. We are through with running away."

With the order given, the Servants leapt to their tasks. Elizabeth and Cú would keep their eyes open for the enemy while Jeanne had Siegfried get down on one knee to begin the cleansing. Mash watched from a distance, while Kiyohime –

"Say. Master?"

\- snuck up on him from behind.

"Yeah?" Ritsuka replied, turning to face the petite Berserker.

"When you form a contract with those two, will you form a contract with me as well?" She asked, much to the Master's surprise.

"You would go that far, fighting for our sake?" Ritsuka asked.

"Oh, yes!" Kiyohime replied happily. "If you will take care of me from now on, I will happily burn your enemies to ashes!"

He couldn't see anything wrong with that. "There is always room for Servants in Chaldea. Of course I will take care of you."

Ritsuka almost missed that hint of golden fire in the Berserker's eyes. A vague sense of unease crept up on him, but chalked it up to her excitement. He had other things to worry about anyway.

Jeanne and Saint George had set up a magical circle. As the male Saint began reciting invocations in a language Ritsuka didn't understand, Jeanne began to sing. At first wordlessly, then beginning to speak the invocations herself.

Her serene voice was gorgeous. Even though the finer meaning of her melody was lost on the Master, he still sat down and listened along. Her voice had something soothing, something mesmerizing.

He wasn't sure how long it took. It felt like seconds, but minutes was more likely. Eventually, the singing stopped and Siegfried rose to his full length.

His posture was different. He stood upright, tall and proud, no longer bowed by his invisible burden.

"Master!" Mash exclaimed. "Look, they succeeded in lifting Siegfried's curses!"

"It was all thanks to Marie," Jeanne said, following the rejuvenated Saber. "What she gave her life to protect is something I want to protect too. This era, this world, this country – to do so, let's defeat the Dragon Witch and the dragon!"

Looking into the Ruler's eyes, Ritsuka saw that she felt the same as him. Before, he wasn't so certain they could have pulled it off. Now, together with Elisabeth and Kiyohime, they had a shot at fixing this Singularity.

"All right," Siegfried said, flexing his shoulders. "I can move now. I apologize for all your efforts, Ritsuka. Or should I say, Master?"

Together, Jeanne d'Arc and Siegfried dropped to one knee, bowing their head. To the left, Kiyohime peered from around the corner of a house, observing the ritual.

Ritsuka straightened his spine and held out his right hand, brandishing his Command Spells. He had memorized this incantation back in Chaldea and he would not mess this up now.

"Let it be declared now! Your body shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your sword! Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail. If you would submit to this will and this truth, then answer!

An oath shall be sworn here. I shall attain all virtues of Heaven; I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell! From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, Protector of the Balance!"

All three of them gave him their answer.

Ritsuka felt his Command Spells itch and burn in response, but the pain was good. He felt the Spirit Origin of the three Servants graft themselves onto his consciousness, just like Cü's had.

When it was over, he addressed the Saber directly. "What do you think?"

Siegfried was the first to rise again. "I apologize if I sound overconfident, Master, but I think you will not be disappointed. I shall entrust my sword to you. This body will be your sword and your shield."

He wasn't sure what to say. Silently, Ritsuka thanked his luck that he encountered such steadfast, loyal Servants here in France. Marie Antoinette had given her life to make this possible. Now, it was time to honour that sacrifice.

And he couldn't wait to see the Dragon Slayer in action.

"Now then," he said. "It's time. Jeanne, do you think the other you is still at Orleans?"

"That is where she resides, when she doesn't know what to do next," Jeanne stated, sighing and shaking her head. "She acts like she doesn't care, but she cannot help but dwell in the past. I wonder…"

Whatever else she wanted to say had to wait, as Elisabeth hopped down from a nearby rooftop. "I wouldn't mind helping you out with that, little puppy."

Jeanne and Ritsuka exchanged a glance. She didn't even seem annoyed by the interruption.

"My, my, Elisabeth," came a voice from behind the Master. "Calling my Love a puppy is an insult."

Her…her love?

"Did you just make a ridiculous word change? Well, I don't care." Elisabeth flicked a strand of purple-red hair out of her face, scowling. "I'm not a cheap dragon. I will meet an extra-special Master someday!"

She sounded genuinely upset by the Berserker's words, which was only exacerbated when Kiyohime gleefully continued.

"Oh, so the horn on your head isn't the only thing twisted. Seeking an impossible dream…is your head okay?"

"Kiyohime, that's enough," Ritsuka called out. "We've got a big fight coming up, so no fighting your allies."

The girl pouted, but didn't protest. "Of course, Master. I'll save it for after the fight."

Good enough, he supposed.

The group gathered at Thiers' gate. Mash and Siegfried took inventory of what little supplies they had left. Cú stood a distance away, apparently content to keep to himself. Upon seeing Amadeus and Saint George arrive, he offered the two of them a little nod, which was met in kind.

"Are you heading out?" Asked the musician. "Then I'll tag along. I've come this far, might as well see the end."

Ritsuka briefly considered talking to Amadeus about Marie, but decided against it. There wasn't anything he could say that the Caster didn't already know.

"Is this everyone?" Mash asked. "Master, are you ready?"

"Ritsuka," Jeanne asked as she briefly glanced towards Elisabeth and Kiyohime. "No, Master. Right now, I am merely a powerless Servant. But I wish to protect this world. Please, fight with me."

She offered him her hand. Without hesitation, Ritsuka took it, pressing his hand into her armoured gauntlet.

"Of course."

With a small smile and a little blush, Jeanne said, "Thank you so much! When this is over, and you need me by your side in return, you need but call and I will answer."

"I will take you up on that in a heartbeat," Ritsuka said. "As for now, let's go over the plan one more time…"

~(+~(+~0~+)~+)~

Orleans was still a long way from Thiers. On their own, a group of Servants could have reached it fast enough, but since they were graced by the presence of a Master, they had to stop eventually.

Siegfried did not mind taking it slow. He was someone who had only ever fought for the justice of others. Fighting for the sake of humanity as a whole and not the desires of others felt different. The consequences of failure were greater than ever.

Death was never an enemy for him, but the loss of humanity's future was. Fighting alongside other heroes to prevent that felt different, too. He lost himself in his beliefs and the wishes of others once before.

But he swore an oath to follow the young Master and he would rather die than So when the sun began to set and the group finally reached a forest that might conceal their presence, Siegfried took it upon himself to clear out the enemies that still lingered.

"Be careful," Ritsuka told him before he left.

Siegfried simply smiled back. Now that Jeanne d'Arc and Saint Georgios had lifted the curses placed upon him by the Dragon Witch, everything felt right again. Instead of a burden, Balmung now felt like an extension of his arms. Instead of slowing him down, his Armour of Fafnir rendered him invincible again. His battle-earned instincts, once dulled, now told him exactly where the enemies encroaching upon their camp were.

It was no contest. Not even close. These skeletons, though numerous, were like scattered leaves before a great wind to him. He had only began to warm up when the last of the familiars lay broken at his feet.

Siegfried sheathed his sword again. He would not lament the lack of stronger enemies to test his mettle. He would soon face Fafnir again, after all. And beyond Fafnir waited the Dragon Witch, one of the few who ever managed to bypass his invincible skin. He would not make the wish of hoping for a strong opponent again.

As it was, the act of turning his blade towards the wicked brought him a sense of calmness. He was a hero at heart, who felt at his best when he was fighting. He had already made his peace with that.

When he returned to the camp, he saw Kiyohime breathe life into a handful of twigs and leaves while Elizabeth gathered branches.

Jeanne d'Arc sat a distance away, kneeling. She had her hands folded in front of her face, and her eyes were closed.

The Saber realized that she was praying, and vowed not to disturb her. From Elizabeth and Kiyohime he learned that the Chaldeans attempted to "Rayshift" in more supplies. Emphasis in tried; the rations had been scattered throughout the forest, with many a nocturnal monster locating them before the other Servants could.

Nevertheless, Chaldea's Lancer seemed to be a peerless hunter as well as a warrior. He had Master by his side, teaching the young man how to skin and gut a killed animal.

As Siegfried gazed over the camp, he noticed that several members of the group were missing.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you," he asked of Ritsuka and Lancer. "But where are Amadeus and Miss Kyrielight?"

"Ah, Siegfried," Master greeted him, wiping his bloodied hands on a piece of moss. "Mash and Amadeus walked off together, a couple of minutes ago. I'm guessing they'll be back soon."

"I see."

That explained it. Perhaps the musician needed a moment to speak about Marie Antoinette's sacrifice? Or perhaps Miss Kyrielight wished to speak to him about something?

As long as they remained safe, the Saber would respect their privacy. Yearning to make himself useful, he marched away from the camp and felled a tree, before removing its branches and dragging what remained back into the camp.

There. Now Master had a place to sit by the fire.

Lancer had made good progress with the kill. In no time at all, the Celtic warrior had sliced off several large pieces of meat, much to Elizabeth and Kiyohime's interest.

"Hey, that looks good," the horned Lancer said as Kiyohime held a cut above the fire herself.

"Hmm! Want me to feed you, Master~?" Kiyohime chirped as she inched closer to Ritsuka.

Siegfried tensed up. He knew full well the woes that love could bring and Kiyohime's passion was slightly unnerving.

Luckily, Miss Kyrielight had chosen that exact moment to return from her walk with Amadeus. She spotted Kiyohime and Siegfried could have sworn her expression became that of righteous fury, if only for a split-second.

"W-What has gotten into you, Kiyohime?!" She demanded.

"Oh, nothing!" The Berserker innocently replied.

Mash hurriedly sat down next to Master, keeping a wary eye on Kiyohime. Amadeus, meanwhile, excused himself and joined Jeanne in her silent prayer. He passed by Lancer, who gave him a little nod before taking his place at the log, right next to the fire.

"Can't say I ever killed an animal before," Ritsuka eventually spoke up. He poked the fire with a stick, the rising flames vaguely reflected in his eyes. "But learning how to prep game was pretty cool."

Lancer grinned, leaning towards the fire to pull his own meal out. "If you think learning basic survival is cool, just wait until you get to the actual fighting part."

"Hah. I think the little puppy would be better off leaving the fighting to the Servants," Elizabeth said. "After all, isn't that what a Master and Servant relationship is like?"

Siegfried silently agreed. After all, that was the knowledge the Holy Grail had granted him. Servants fought on the front, while Masters supported them from the rear.

"I guess that's true," Ritsuka admitted. "For now, there's not much I can do. But even so…if Mash puts her life on the line for humanity's sake, can I do any less?"

"Senpai?" Miss Kyrielight seemed shocked by the comment. She gazed up at her Master with those bright, purple eyes, and Siegfried wondered how the young girl had not realized before. He supposed that, had the roles been reversed, he would not have hesitated to put his life on the line as well.

Ritsuka seemed thoughtful for a moment, as if he wanted to add something else. He refrained from commenting further though, and simply smiled back at the young girl.

The next morning, both the Master as the shield-bearer got up early. Ritsuka groaned and stretched, before quietly stuffing what little equipment he had taken from Chaldea into his backpack.

Siegfried noticed how Miss Kyrielight approached the young man, carrying something wrapped in paper in her hands. She hesitated at the last moment and put it away again, much to the Saber's confusion.

Siegfried cocked an eyebrow at the sight. Jeanne d'Arc was watching too, but she did not comment.

When everybody had finished their business, they gathered around the remains of the fire and began to plan for the assault on Orleans.

"I seem to be the only one with experience leading an army," Siegfried began. "Of course, it's not as if I have a glorious military record where I led an army to invade a worthwhile country…"

"Please continue, Siegfried," Jeanne encouraged him. "You have more experience than any of us."

The Dragon Slayer nodded. "Our numbers are few while the enemy's are large. But, most of the enemy's forces are weaker than us. In situations like this, there are two options."

"A frontal assault?" Ritsuka asked.

"Or an ambush from the rear. However, stealth is out of the question. The enemy knows where we are."

"That leaves us with only one option," the Chaldean Lancer joined in. "A frontal assault."

"Indeed. I am going to take care of Fafnir. Master? I wanted to ask for your presence."

"Of course," Ritsuka agreed. "With Fafnir gone, the other Jeanne will lose most of her firepower."

The blue-clad Lancer gently shoved Kiyohime aside when she crept too close to the Master and took her spot instead. "But I'm guessing this Witch still has a lot of other Servants on her side ,right?"

Ritsuka, oblivious to the danger, picked up where his Lancer left. "Exactly. That is why the rest of you are going to escort us in, protect us against anything she might have left. We know that she still has Vlad and Carmilla – "

Elisabeth nervously shifted on her feet when the Master mentioned them.

"- and who knows what other Servants she might have summoned in the meantime," Ritsuka concluded.

"Understood!" Miss Kyrielight said. "I'm inexperienced, but I'll fight with everything I have!"

"Ehm, puppy?" Elisabeth carefully said. "There is someone I must fight. Would it be all right if I focus on her?"

"Do you mean Carmilla?"

"Y-Yes," Elisabeth replied, startled that he had guessed. "She is a Servant I…share a certain fate with. If I can do that, I would be quite satisfied. I'll lend you a hand if I can spare the time."

"Yes," Ritsuka said, slowly nodding. "I can understand that. Of course."

"I, without a doubt, shall be facing the Dragon Witch," Jeanne d'Arc said.

Of that, there could never have been any doubt.

Saint George looked at the Saint. "Can you defeat her?"

"Yes," she replied instantly. "I shall be victorious. Even if she turns out to be the real Jeanne d'Arc, I will still prevail in battle."

Then, the blue-tinted face of Chaldea's leader appeared on the small projection window of the Master's communication device. "_You can leave scouting the area to me! This is do-or-die time. I've got lots of energy drinks and buckets ready!"_

The young Master looked impressed. "That's actually a really good idea!"

"Ehm, no, I don't think it is," Miss Kyrielight protested. "Those have the opposite effect. They cause stomachaches, so maybe you shouldn't drink them…"

The look of shock on the Master's face was palpable. "What, seriously? I didn't know that…"

"_I am sure it will freshen me up if I dunk my face in it,"_ Roman waved away their concerns. "_Anyway, leave everything to me!"_

"R-Right," Miss Kyrielight replied. "Ehm, Master, your orders?"

The surrounding Servants looked at Ritsuka with anticipation. Everything that needed saying had already been said. Nevertheless, this was the last peaceful moment before the storm. If there was anything he needed to get off his chest, now was the time.

"We all know what's at stake here," the Master said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Marie Antoinette bought us this chance and we're not going to get a second one. Let's get going."

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

The swarm of wyverns congregated in the distance, directly over Orleans,, their numbers increasing with every passing second as their maker called them towards her. They came from every direction, as their blight had been spread all over France.

Occasionally the beasts would grow bold enough to send a group towards the Chaldean party, eager to do their mistress' bidding…

"Hah! Gotcha!"

And they would be met with either the crimson lance of Cú Chulainn or the twilight flash of Siegfried's sword. The closest one shrieked and plummeted out of the sky as Lancer virtually materialized on top of it, driving his spear through its skull.

"That's number fourteen! I'm in the lead!"

"I did not know we were keeping count," Siegfried retorted as he beheaded a wyvern that came too close to the ground.

"Knowing wouldn't have done you any good!"

Amadeus brought down the wyverns that remained at a distance, together with Kiyohime. The Berserker was very accurate with her attacks. She swung her fan and three fireballs came into life, erupting from its edge and slamming into its target a second later.

In the few weeks he had been a Master candidate in Chaldea, Ritsuka read all the non-classified information available on Servants. He always thought that Berserkers were meant to be consumed by their madness, reducing them to screaming, rampaging warriors. But Kiyohime seemed….well, _normal_, for a lack of a better term. Maybe Da Vinci could tell him more about that when they got back?

His datapad beeped and Doctor Roman's voice be heard, yelling at him about incoming Servants. Ritsuka barely registered what Roman was telling him when Siegfried stepped in front of him. A supersonic impact shattered against his impervious armour. Overpessure from the sheer force of impact washed across the Master.

"Enemy Servant!" Mash yelled. "It's an Archer!"

A green-clad woman with long, gold and green hair leapt down from one of the Wyverns. A pair off furry ears stuck out from her hair; clear evidence that her origins weren't fully human. She took aim with her bow and launched a series of arrows, all of which Siegfried blocked and parried.

The woman's beautiful features were contorted in an animalistic rage as she screamed, "I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!"

She leapt from the Wyvern, launching another volley of arrows at Ritsuka, apparently intent on killing him first. "Every last one of you, shatter before my bow!"

"She's been forced under madness enhancement as well!" Jeanne said as she leapt across the grasslands towards the Archer.

"It can't be helped! I'm taking her out!" Mash yelled, darting after the Ruler to cover her from the Wyvern swarm.

Mash's resolve was impressive. She had taken to the grim reality of a Holy Grail War better than Ritsuka initially had. Still, with the memories of Marie Antoinette's sacrifice spurring him on, the Master did not hesitate for a second. "Lancer, Saber! Take her out!" He ordered, even as Siegfried clasped an armoured arm around his waist and pulled him out of the way.

Two arrows whistled by. One was a clear miss, while the other shattered itself against the Saber's shoulderplates.

With an ear-piercing shriek, the Archer leapt towards Siegfried and fired off several arrows in rapid succession. Her speed was incredible; she covered the distance in a matter of seconds, vaulting over the Saber as he sliced at her with Balmung. He missed her by a hair's breadth and the Archer landed behind them. With a truly murderous expression on her face she transferred her bow to an overhand grip and lashed out at the Master

Ritsuka saw it coming and was able to roll out of the way of the initial two blows, but the Archer was on him on in an instant. The third one would have connected with his head – and taken it clean off – had Saber not jabbed Balmung in the way, mere inches away from Ritsuka's head.

"Master, watch out!" Siegfried yelled, immediately putting himself between the maddened Archer and the Master. "She's after you!"

Yeah, Ritsuka got as much. Taking him out was a huge tactical advantage for the enemy. Yet something about this attack felt more personal than –

Siegfried set his sword ablaze with blue fire, then struck at the Archer in a wide arc. She leapt backwards to dodge his attack, but the Saber didn't press the attack. He stood in front of Ritsuka, holding his greatsword at the ready.

"Master!" Mash yelled, running towards the two of them to join the fight. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine," Ritsuka replied without taking his eyes off the Archer. Now that the defence was covered, it was time to go on the offense. "Saber, Lancer, now's your chance! Attack!"

Siegfried glanced back at Mash. As he did so, Cú leapt over his shoulder and struck at the Archer with his spear, forcing her on the defensive.

Seemingly satisfied that he would not be leaving Ritsuka unprotected, the Saber then gave chase.

Maddened or not, this Archer was quick and nimble. She darted across the battlefield with incredible speed, firing off salvo after salvo of blindingly fast arrows while easily dodging Kiohime's fireballs.

She was agile enough to strike at any individual Servant and get out unscathed, while her arrows hit hard enough that even Saber's Armour of Fafnir barely repelled them. But her window of opportunity to escape was closing fast.

A last volley of arrows sang through the air. Jeanne managed to slash two of them out of the air with her flag. The rest slammed into Mash's shield as she braced herself against the incoming fire. Kiyohime gave a cry as she swung her fan, unleashing another wave of fire that kept the Archer from closing in again.

Elizabeth ran after the Lancer and Saber to join the battle. With no less than three Servants after her life, the Archer should have retreated. This was a battle she couldn't win and it was obvious to everyone. Why didn't she cut her losses and fall back?

Ritsuka watched as Lancer hunted her down, matching her incredible speed as he soared through the air, pouncing from one location to the other, each time cutting her off. She couldn't risk getting close to him and she knew it.

The Master could hear her screams of rage as Cú forced her to relocate yet again. She jumped backwards into the air, unleashing a barrage at the Celtic hero. He could almost imagine Cú's face as the lethal missiles missed their marks at the last possible moment.

With the Archer's attention now entirely focused on Cú, she dropped her guard as she landed, and that proved to be a fatal mistake.

Siegfried rocketed across the landscape, already swinging Balmung when the Archer landed. She barely had the time to turn around before Siegfried cut her down.

Together with Mash, Ritsuka ran towards the fallen Servant. If she was just like Saint Martha, just like Lancelot, she could only be content with this. But even so…even so-!

Blood seeped onto the ground as the maddened Servant collapsed to the ground. Balmung had slashed her from shoulder to hip. Any normal human would have bled to death within seconds. Even then, Ritsuka could tell that the Archer wouldn't be long for this world.

Elizabeth spotted him and backed away. Cú and Siegfried stood next to the fallen Archer. The Celtic hero stared at her with an impassive expression, while Siegfried almost looked mournful.

"Ah…don't look at me like that…" the woman spoke. Now that she wasn't burdened by her Madness Enhancement anymore, the coils of rage had left her mind, and she looked peaceful and serene. "This is fine."

"I have never met you, but I feel like I know you nonetheless," Siegfried quietly replied, his blood-stained sword held loosely in his hand.

The Archer closed her eyes and sighed. "What a troublesome and unrewarding job…go take down that monster, Dragon Slayer." She coughed violently, blood seeping from between her lips. "Next time…I'll…for sure…"

Her body disintegrated in an ethereal glow of golden embers.

"_Berserk Archer's elimination is confirmed!"_ Doctor Roman proclaimed. "_Pay attention, I am getting a reading of an ultra-size lifeform!"_

"Fafnir…" Ritsuka said.

"_Exactly! They've left Orleans! In other words, the showdown is about to begin!"_

The Master looked down at the spot where the Archer died. Though all remnants of her existence had faded away, he could still see the indentation her body had left when she collapsed.

Another one down. Three more to go. Carmilla, Vlad and that Saber.

"Let it come," Cú Chulainn scoffed. "As we are now, it'll be easy."

Ritsuka remembered previous encounters with the vengeful Saint. Something told him that when it came to a final confrontation between Jeanne d'Arc and her twisted self, it might be many things, but it wouldn't be easy.


	5. Chapter 4: No Hell nor Fury

**Chapter 4**

**No Hell nor Fury**

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

It would have been nonsense to think that someone who carried so much hate and so much anger would have the desire to let her enemy come to her. To someone, whose soul was so consumed by hatred, the idea of defence must be ridiculous.

A veritable storm of wyverns swarmed around Orleans. Their numbers blotted out the sun; their roars of bloodthirst drowned out all sound.

"Hey, isn't there a few too many of them?" Mozart cried out, quickly sidestepping to avoid getting snatched up by one of the beasts.

"I won't allow any complaints!" Jeanne shouted. She held her banner high, easily repelling the wyverns that lunged for her. It crushed bones and rent flesh, dealing death blows every time she swung. Now that she was no longer limited by her magic supply, her physical abilities as a Ruler finally shone through.

"_Be careful everyone!" _Roman shouted. "_There are several Servant reactions, coming in at high speed!"_

Jeanne, Siegfried and Mash moved as one. In the time it took Ritsuka to process Roman's words, they had positioned themselves in front of him, stopping a three-pronged blitz. He felt someone's arms wrap around his waist and pull him away just as the Servants clashed with each other.

The resulting impact sent shockwaves through the area, knocking Ritsuka and the person shielding him to the ground. When the dust settled, he saw that Siegfried had locked blades with Vlad and the berserk-Saber. Their assault had come to a complete, sudden halt against his blade, and the two struggled mightily to get past it.

"Leave it to me," Siegfried said. He leant into his blade and _swung_, sending both of his powerful foes flying.

Ritsuka used the brief moment respite and assessed the situation. Elizabeth and Jeanne weren't here anymore. Neither was Carmilla. Mash stood at the ready with her shield deployed. Cú and George stood beside her.

"You can let go now, Kiyohime," Ritsuka said without taking his eyes off Vlad and the enemy Saber. Whoever that Saber was, they looked different now. If Ritsuka didn't know better, he would think their Madness Enhancement had somehow broken them. "Lancer, Saint George, please find Jeanne. I need to know she's safe."

"Be careful," Siegfried warned as the two Servants leapt to their task. "The enemy are both top-class Servants."

"Yes, we're familiar with them," Ritsuka replied.

"No, Saber has changed significantly," Siegfried said, readying himself as Vlad and the Saber approached again. "What happened?"

"There is no need to be suspicious, Dragonslayer," Vlad courteously replied. "Despite killing countless people without changing, the instant Saber's precious queen died, _this _happened."

_I can relate_, Ritsuka thought, warily eying the approaching Servants. The Saber had a blank, almost haunted expression in their eyes. It was as if he couldn't even recognize what was going on. Ritsuka still didn't know who the Saber was nor what type of Noble Phantasms they possessed. This could get dangerous.

"Is that so? You seem fine, Lancer," Siegfried said.

Vlad smiled, but there was no humour in his eyes. "I have already fallen as low as I can. A true devil."

"Then I'll end it for you," Siegfried calmly said. "Master, are you ready?"

Was he ready? Of course not. How could this battlefield, where the death of a beloved young Queen had shattered the sanity of allies and enemies alike, ever be prepared for? He supposed that right now he was as ready as he could ever get. "Give it your all, Siegfried!"

With that exclamation, everyone burst into action. The Berserk-Saber uttered a cry of primal rage and lunged for Siegfried. Even in their pitiful state, they should have been able to sense the difference in parameters. Perhaps Vlad did, as he attempted to interfere, but to no avail. He was met by a wall of flames that Kiyohime conjured in his way, and when he dashed through the inferno regardless, Mash was there to stop him

Siegfried struck a single blow. A single blow delivered by the mightiest blade in the Singularity, fuelled by regret and the will to do better. It happened so fast that Ritsuka only realized the outcome when the French knight sank through their knees, blood spraying from the enormous gash in their chest.

The Dragonslayer took two large steps back and raised his sword to defend against a possible counter-attack, but there was no need.

"_Enemy Saber defeated!" _Roman exclaimed. "_A Servant with Madness Enhancement was defeated so easily!" _

"This is Siegfried's true power?" Mash exclaimed, her expression one of amazement.

Ritsuka didn't respond – couldn't respond. The cost of sustaining Jeanne d'Arc, Siegfried and Cú at the top of their game was starting to wear on him. He could feel every injury he sustained thus far, feel every muscle burn and ache.

Trembling hands touched their ruined chest. The Berserk-Saber's expression changed from shock to relief. "My queen…please forgive my wrongdoings…" they whispered.

Even the enemy loved Marie Antoinette so much. Even though they had only been together a couple of days, she had laid her life down without hesitation. For what she believed in. For her country. She didn't let this insanity stop her from doing what she wanted do to. What she _needed_ to do.

Vlad roared. "Come, savages who trample over my territory! It's time to discipline you!"

The immense magical energy he gathered within himself could only mean one thing: an incoming Noble Phantasm.

"Saber!" Ritsuka yelled. Though his magical circuits were starting to burn and glow underneath his skin, he was going to honour Marie's sacrifice. Even if this land had been consumed by insanity, he would fight to change that!

"Understood Master. I'll stop the enemy's Noble Phantasm with my own!"

"I'll turn my compassion and rage into red-hot stakes and skewer you all!" The Count continued, his smile growing more bestial as he prepared to unleash his Noble Phantasm.

"Oh sword, Let Thee be Filled!" Siegfried raised his sword above his head as it began to glow with an orange light, before erupting in a well of twilight.

"Lord of Execution!" Vlad roared. "Kazikli Bey!"

Even as Doctor Roman yelled something about true either, the ground trembled and shook as hundreds, if not thousands of black stakes turned the landscape around them into a hellhole, surging towards the Master and his Servants.

"Felling the wicked dragon!" Siegfried yelled. "The sun now sets throughout the world! I'll cut you down! _Balmung_!"

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

The dragon Fafnir roared and ground shook. The creature was enormous! Its shadowy bulk cast a shadow that could conceal an army. When he beat his wings, the air shook as if from a clap of thunder.

Jeanne d'Arc ducked low to avoid the charge of a wyvern, then stabbed it with her banner. As the beast fell, she looked up at the enormous dragon. Her other self had managed to separate the Chaldean forces with her Servants. Since then, both Vlad as Chevalier d'eon had disappeared, the signatures from their Spirit Origins faded as the twilight cloak of Balmung dissipated. Now all that was left was for Elizabeth to deny her future self. Then, the "Dragon Witch" would be alone.

But for the moment, she seemed content with having her wyverns ravage the countryside. The mana requirements to sustain such an enormous swarm had to be enormous! Was it the Holy Grail? Why did the other "her" not use it in a different way?

_It's only been a couple of days since they put you to death, and what for?_

Well, Jeanne believed she already knew. She only had to verify that truth.

"I know you can hear me," he called out.

Solely dedicated to doing its mistress' bidding, the great beast turned its massive head towards her. Smoke circled around its nostrils, pennants of white-hot flames streaming from its maw. Cruel, empty eyes bore into Jeanne d'Arc's form as she called to her darker self.

She knew it would be fruitless. She knew that the others would only call her foolish for attempting to reason with her other self. But still…but still she had to try! Ritsuka Fujimaru was right, this woman had every right to be angry.

"We don't have to fight!" The Ruler continued. "There is no need for any of this to happen!"

At that very moment, a great and terrible amount of magical energy gathered within Fafnir. It whipped its head back, and a ball of white fire gathered within its maw. It grew more and more powerful and Jeanne jabbed her banner into the ground, bracing herself for what was to come.

_If this is your final answer-!_

Fafnir unleashed a blast of fire that burned the sky. The clouds themselves parted as the fireball, a hundred meters across roared towards her position.

Jeanne grit her teeth, her gauntlets clenching tight around her banner. Not yet – she could not use her Noble Phantasm yet! She had to save her strength for the confrontation itself!

Her world turned white as the blast of fire washed over her, then faded to black as hundreds of tons of ash and debris blotted out the sun. All of her Magic Resistance, all of the power granted to her by the Ruler-class and she only barely managed to endure it. The flames evaporated like mist in the sun and Jeanne struggled to rise again, clutching her banner.

The ground around her had been levelled by the impact. Fafnir's attack had blasted a crater into the ground that was hundreds of meters across. The beast itself had landed in the midst of that crater, its massive, armoured head looming into Jeanne's vision.

And hovering behind Fafnir…

Her other self sat perched atop the neck of a silver wyvern, watching impassively as Jeanne struggled to get up.

Such hatred…such blind, wild hatred…with absolutely nothing to guide it.

Her other self raised her sword and Fafnir roared –

A horse billowed and a silver gauntlet appeared within her view. "Come, Jeanne!" Saint George exclaimed. He sat mounted atop a beautiful white war horse.

Jeanne clasped his hand and the Rider pulled her atop his horse, narrowly avoiding Fafnir's massive claw in the process.

"Do not make the mistake of standing before the Dragon Witch alone, Holy Maiden! For you are not alone!"

"What are you – "

As the white horse cleared the outermost edge of the crater, Jeanne saw what the Saint meant. A great host of men marched out of the east towards Orleans. At its head strode Marshall Gilles, clad in polished steel armour and armed with a gleaming sword.

The Ruler could not believe her eyes. To see her comrade of arms come to her aid even after she was branded a witch...it filled her heart with hope.

The roar of cannonfire and the fizzling of a thousand arrows felled many wyverns. Hundreds of knights charged towards the crater, intent on taking the fight to the dragons that destroyed so many of their cities. They brought their machines of war to bear; trebuchets and ramming barges. Marshall Gilles was ready to retake the entire city.

What bravery, but what foolishness! "The wyverns will tear them apart!" Jeanne exclaimed.

"Do not worry, Holy Maiden!" George replied as his steed dashed from the left to the right, dodging the wyverns that attempted to sweep them off their feet. "Chaldea's Master has a plan!"

_Ritsuka does-?_

A large flock of wyverns broke off from the main formation and flocked towards Gilles' forces, dozens of them. The soldiers were courageous and skilled, but they were still no match for these creatures!

The dragonic beasts were almost upon Marshall Gilles' forces when Cú Chulainn appeared in their midst. The blue-haired Lancer was so fast that even Jeanne had difficulty tracking him. Even for a Lancer, famed for their speed, this hero was extraordinary. The French knights only realized they had aid when the wyverns began dropping from the sky.

Jeanne did not know the Child of Light, not like Ritsuka and Mash did. She did not necessarily like him, but his timing was impeccable. She would thank him later.

Fafnir dug his claws against the edges of the crater and slowly climbed out. A line of archers behind the French forces unleashed volley after volley of arrows. They arced down and managed to reach Fafnir, but Jeanne knew without looking that the beast had not even felt them. A Phantasmal of such high rank could only be defeated by mythical weapons.

The Ruler leapt from George's steed when she spotted her other self sending the remaining bulk of the wyverns into combat. Many hundreds of wyverns, commanded by the Dragon Witch and her own concept of "the Evil Dragon".

Even if the dragons won, they would continue fighting one another for eternity. Endless war. Endless devouring. This, Jeanne d'Arc knew. It would be the pinnacle of the Hundred Years' War; her other self's desire come true.

From an abandoned battlefield, Jeanne sensed the piercing scream of a woman struck by a killing blow. She knew that now, the Dragon Witch was truly all alone.

And Fafnir moved, stirred by his mistress' feelings. Or perhaps Siegfried's presence had grown too great for him to ignore. He shifted his focus from the harmless French army to Ritsuka. That same energy signature as before flared to life as a great maelstrom of power gathered within his maws.

Jeanne was about to come to Chaldea's aid when the silver wyvern descended. Her other self calmly dismounted, glanced at Fafnir with an unreadable expression in her eyes, then turned to the Ruler.

"Hello, thrash I left behind," she spoke with a cruel smile.

Jeanne clutched her banner more tightly.

_I am sorry, Ritsuka. Hang on, just a little bit longer!_

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Siegfried's power was so intertwined with the legend of Fafnir, that the monstrosity could no longer ignore him. _That _part of the plan worked, at least.

Too bad everything else had gone wrong. The French had sent a portion of their troops towards Fafnir. A distraction, most likely. To keep the dragon from laying waste to their machines of war – in their eyes, the only weapons they had that could harm it.

Fafnir wouldn't even give them a second glance. Flames streamed from its open maw, engulfing the knights in a swirling wall of fire. The knights flamed into cinder, shrieking in pain and terror as their formation scattered.

A wordless scream wrenched itself from Ritsuka's lips. He took a step towards the screaming soldiers. He had to pull Cú back from Jeanne's front, get him –

A hand clasped itself around his wrist and pulled him back.

"Master, you can't help them!" Kiyohime snapped. "If you change our tactics now, the enemy will overwhelm us!"

Ritsuka glared at the Berserker, thinking of a way to convince her.

There wasn't one. She was right.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath. "I know, I know. Can you – "

As soon as it finished off the French soldiers, Fafnir returned its focus to the Chaldean group. The wyverns surged forward and it roared again.

Ritsuka ducked low as several wyverns went for him. Kiyohime fended them off with several well-placed fireballs, but the beasts were relentless. Mash jumped and weaved her way through the swarming wyverns to join them again.

The Master cast a reinforcing spell on Mash. He grit his teeth when the spell took hold and noticed how Kiyohime struggled to keep the wyverns off their back. He expended a power boosting spell on her too.

He was vaguely aware of Jeanne imbuing herself with prana as her opponent escalated the fight. The enemy was tenacious. There was no end to their forces, it seemed.

Worse, Ritsuka had underestimated the amount of mana necessary to keep the Servants going. His magical circuits were starting to burn, now. Even though the Fate system provided a steady stream of prana to the four Servants, he was still the limiting factor. Beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead, and he missed the exact moment he sank through his knees. As it was, he was vaguely aware of Mash clutching his hand as she shielded him.

"Master! Fafnir is approaching!" She cried.

Ritsuka looked up, only to see that Fafnir was right there! It stomped towards the Chaldean group, making the ground quake with every step it took. The thing was enormous. How had Siegfried ever killed it?

"Come on!" Ritsuka roared as the creatures descended upon them. Adrenaline coursed through his system, carried onwards by the thunderous roar of his heart. It drowned out the pain, but it wouldn't last long. "Kiyohime, it's time!"

"Watch over me!" Kiyohime said, the sheer heat emanating from her petite body setting fire to the ground underneath. "As of now, I'll eliminate the liar!"

An enormous amount of energy gathered around the Berserker, taking the form of blue embers rising into the sky. Heat washed over Mash and Ritsuka and the Shielder swiftly deployed her shield, guarding the Master from the worst of it.

"Samadhi Through Transforming Flames!" Kiyohime cried. Her body was consumed in a sea of all-consuming flames, as blue as the sky and hot enough to rival Fafnir's breath. The flames raged across the flames, coiling and warming, before collapsing in on themselves. A fraction of a second later, an enormous flaming serpent emerged from the fire, towering over all but Fafnir.

The heat was immense, even through the protective properties of Mash's shield. The flaming serpent threw itself against the wall of wyverns. Bodies charred and mid-flight and turned to ashes. The serpent rampaged through the flock of Phantasmals, binding them with its blue-wreathed body.

Flames gathered around Fafnir's mouth. It raised its head and opened its maw –

Siegfried burst from their formation and threw himself at the wyverns. It took him three strides to build to a top-speed sprint. The wyverns could not fill up the hole Kiyohime burned in their swarm in time. The Dragonslayer blew through and swung. The burst of twilight mana slammed into Fafnir's fire, producing an explosion powerful enough to shake the ground.

But it wasn't enough to harm the dragon. Ritsuka was panting now. He risked a glance to the left, where in the distance, the two Saints were fully engrossed in their duel. He felt more than saw every blow she landed, every blow she took. And Elizabeth...the combined drain of multiple Noble Phantasms discharging was taking its toll.

Behind them, the French cavalry came closer. The drumming of their iron-clad hooves against the ground rolled through the landscape like thunder.

Where was Kiyohime? Where was Siegfried?

"Master, Fafnir is going to attack again."

Mash's voice sounded like it came from far away. She still sounded so calm, so collected. Ritsuka clenched his fists and took a deep breath. Kiyohime hadn't been able to harm Fafnir. Only Siegfried could.

A great maelstrom of energy gathered within Fafnir's mouth. Black flames leaked from between his jagged teeth.

They couldn't stay there. But if they left, the cavalry would be wiped out. The knights were almost upon them, close enough to be caught in the blast radius. Close enough…

"Mash… " Ritsuka said, straining to raise his voice above the approaching horses. "Use your Noble Phantasm!"

The air crackled and burned as a second sun appeared overhead. Ritsuka saw Mash's lips move, saw her ready her shield, before the tidal wave of fire exploded and his world was consumed by white-black light.

Then the light and heat vanished, the torrent of fire dissipating. Ritsuka craned his head, every circuit in his body flaring in pain. Horses galloped around him, their riders focused solely on the dragon that almost vaporized them. They couldn't see him down there and their hoofs came dangerously close to trampling him. He had to get out of there and fast! Where was - ?

"Master! Take my hand!"

Something large raced past him. Time seemed to slow down as the Master looked up and saw Mash stretching out her arm from atop a black-armoured war horse. Her fingers touched his – and his hand slapped firmly into her gauntlet.

She swung him around and on top of the horse she had commandeered. Ritsuka landed behind her, looking on in shock as Mash took the reins of the battle-clad horse with her free hand and guided it in full gallop towards Fafnir. She was bruised and patches of skin on her arms were singed, but her face was fierce and challenging. She raised her shield and deflected a wyvern that attempted to topple them.

"_Fafnir's going to keep doing that until he gets you!" _Doctor Roman yelled at them. "_You can't keep defending against him, he'll overwhelm you!"_

Ritsuka gritted his teeth. This close to Fafnir, the Master could barely comprehend how a single, living creature could be so enormous. His scales lacked any sort of radiance even in the glittering sun. It was as if Fafnir were plated with stones or metal instead of scales. The entirety of its stomach glowed an iridescent shade of green.

Just like Siegfried's.

_This is why I was summoned…_

Ritsuka clutched his right hand. "Siegfried!" He shouted. "By my Command Spell! Use your Noble Phantasm to obliterate Fafnir with all your might!"

As he uttered that sentence, his hand burned and itched and his Seals flared. An enormous rush of prana coursed through his link with Siegfried. In that split-second, Ritsuka felt the Saber's heart could not find a more agreeable order to carry out, and as such, the crystallization of magic converted into a power the two of them would never have been able to attain otherwise.

Crimson light crackled around Ritsuka's arm as the Command Spell took hold.

Mash gasped and looked up at the sky. The two of them spotted Siegfried an instant before he struck, a torrent of twilight energy trailing him like the tail of a comet. A lone figure in the sky, a sea of destructive fire erupting from his sword. A stream of light shot forth like a tidal wave of destruction, ripping the sky asunder and annihilating everything in the surrounding area.

The storm of prana washed over Fafnir. Ritsuka caught its outline for only a single heartbeat before the dragon was vaporized. The ground where the evil dragon stood blasted into dust and smoke and the debris rained down upon the surrounding area – along with the dozens of wyverns that had been unfortunate enough to fly too close to Fafnir.

Ritsuka breathed a sigh of relief. _A victory. _

Utterly exhausted, the Master slumped against Mash's back. He closed his eyes, just for a moment.

"Master? Master, are you hurt?"

"Kyuu!"

Ritsuka opened his eyes again. He was lying on his back in the grass. The air smelled of sulphur, but he saw no dragons. He felt something wet and warm on his face that definitely wasn't there before.

_Blood?_

When he reached out, he felt something small and very fluffy. "Fou?"

"Kyu, kyuu!"

Mash's face came into focus, her violet eyes tentatively looked into his. "Master!" She said upon seeing he was awake. "Are you alright? Can you move?"

"Where's Siegfried?" Ritsuka asked. He struggled to get up. The overworked circuits in his extremities protested and shot lances of pain up his hand and feet. "And the others?"

He spotted the Saber sitting on what looked like the smoldering remains of a trebuchet. He didn't look hurt. No big surprise there, really.

"I'm here, Ritsuka," he heard the Saint's voice coming from somewhere behind him. "Please, don't strain yourself. You pushed yourself too far."

The Master sighed with relief, then remembered that Jeanne wasn't the only one with a personal fight. He looked around, but only saw Cú and Saint George. "Where's Elizabeth?"

"Elizabeth needed a moment for herself," Mash explained. "After her fight with Carmilla."

So, Elizabeth won? That was great. But he had the feeling that Jeanne hadn't been so successful. They were all still here, after all.

Cú approached him, offering him a hand. "All concerned about the ladies are we, Master?"

Ritsuka took his hand and the Lancer easily pulled him back to his feet. Standing was painful, too. He felt like all the strength had been drained from his muscles. "Is that jealousy I hear?"

Lancer snaked his arm around Ritsuka's back to support him. "Just glad to see you finally got your priorities straight."

Ritsuka took a moment to process what happened. Mash saving him from Fafnir, charging the phantasmal on a horse, Siegfried annihilating the dragon and the wyvern swarm with his Noble Phantasm…

And Jeanne confronting her other self.

"Nice work with Fafnir," the Master said. "That was incredible."

"It's an honour to have such a bold Master," Siegfried earnestly replied. "Your Command Spell made it possible."

"No, you should not be too modest about yourself," Jeanne told him. "Without you, we would never have defeated Fafnir. We broke the Dragon Witch' strength with this fight."

"Where is she now?" Ritsuka asked. "Jeanne, where did she go?"

A shadow fell over Jeanne's face. "She fell back to Orleans' palace. She…has one other ally. Someone I will have to deal with too."

Another Servant, then. No matter. "Then we need to go after her," Ritsuka said. "We won't have another shot at this

"She _is _vulnerable now, with Fafnir gone," Saint George mused. "Forgive me Master, but what exactly compels your tactics?"

Ritsuka looked at the Rider. Saint George was perceptive – even more perceptive than he thought. Or maybe he was just an open book to the Servants. "She has the Holy Grail," he said, carefully choosing his words. He didn't exactly understand his reasoning here either. He just felt like he _needed_ to talk to her, whatever it took. "We won't be done here until we retrieve it."

"…I understand," Saint George replied. "However, I will not be accompanying you there. I must remain here and guard the French soldiers."

"And make sure none of the enemies that might remain, give pursuit?" Mozart asked – _where did he even come from? – _as he approached the group. "Ever on the defence, my Saint?"

George placed his fist across his heart. "It is who I am. It is why I am here."

Elizabeth flew in from above and landed atop the wrecked trebuchet. She tucked in her large, draconian wings and sighed. "Yeah, well, I did what I was meant to do in this place. I'm going to stick around you puppy, whether you want to talk to the Dragon Witch or not."

Ritsuka wasn't entirely comfortable that even Elizabeth knew what he wanted to do. Then again, it was better than keeping it a secret.

The Master glanced at Orleans. Within the walled city, the Holy Grail awaited. The omnipotent wish-granting device.

If that was true, why had Jeanne d'Arc not used to for anything else? Why focus on summoning dragons and wyverns if you had such power at your beck and call?

_What is it you wish for?"_ Ritsuka thought.

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Within the halls of the palace, Gilles lamented the loss of Fafnir with all his being. Oh, the hatred! The hatred he held for his enemies! He should unleash his Prelati Spellbook and lay waste to all of France! Only then…only then they would understand…

Within the festering darkness of his madness, his desire for Jeanne's salvation won out. He would not destroy France. That was _her _right. Hers alone!

"That Master still lives…" Gilles spoke as his dark maiden set up another summoning circle. "Fafnir is dead. Without him, the wyverns…"

"I am aware."

Her icy voice need never be raised for Gilles to silence himself. To hear her voice once more, he would gladly suffer for that.

"Let us summon a new Servant," his La Pucelle continued.

"Indeed!" Gilles cried out with delight.

"So defend me while I focus on the summoning."

"And the boy?" Gilles asked.

His Maiden stood with her back towards him, so he could not see her expression. Normally, he did not even need to see her face to know what she felt, but strangely enough, her heart eluded him now.

"Bring him alive if you can," she said. "Tear him apart if you can't."

Oh, oh oh oh! How swiftly her passion faded! How could the Grail not understand what he wanted? How could it not imbue her with an even greater desire?

But it mattered not. It mattered not! She was perfect to him as she was now. It did not matter if she could not think of any other wish than her revenge; it was all she needed!

All he needed for her.

"I shall buy you the time you need," he told her. "Use that time to summon us a powerful Servant. Perhaps King Arthur?"

Jeanne laughed without humour. "I can't imagine an English knight answering my summons…but I'll see what I can do." She shot him a look over her shoulder. "Good luck."

Though her expression was so devoid of feeling, Gilles understood. "Indeed Jeanne. I pray that the light of your glory is not tainted."

The palace shook as the Master and his Servants gained entrance through force.

But Gilles was not concerned. Soon! Soon they would understand!

With the Holy Grail in his hands, how could he not be victorious?

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

"Make hurry!" The Ruler cried as she rushed through the hallways. "If we are too slow, she'll summon another Servant!"

"I-I know!" Elizabeth shot back. "But, you know, this castle's kind of nice…"

Ritsuka couldn't disagree more. The dark hallways were illuminated by flickering candles and occasionally broken up by blood-smeared doors. Most of the doors were shut, but some of them had been broken down. As the Master ran through the hallways, struggling to keep up with Jeanne, he saw that the rooms behind those broken doors weren't as empty as he had hoped.

How many people had Jeanne d'Arc's other self killed? How many corpses had she left in her wake?

"All this blood, all this rubbish, they don't even organize or clean," Kiyohime said. "Filthy. Only a bloodthirsty barbarian would prefer a place like this."

"Watch out!" Jeanne suddenly cried. Her armoured boots dug into the tiles and she swung her banner. Something large and blue leapt at her, and she swiftly cut it in half.

Almost instantly, more of the creatures came barrelling down the hallway. Masses of blue tentacles with no discernible torsos or heads, only gaping, circular maws filled with teeth.

Ritsuka skidded to a halt as the Servants around him leapt into action. He was gripped by a growing sense of dread; what were these things? They didn't look like any Phantasmal species to him. They brought with them an aura of wrongness, an aura that disgusted him. Was this he other Jeanne's last form of defence? Or was this the Noble Phantasm of her one remaining ally?

The monsters came at them in twos, threes and fours, flew into fleshy bits as Noble Phantasms ripped them apart and seemed to melt away. The problem was that there were dozens of the things, maybe hundreds, which made it impossible to stem their approach.

Siegfried and Cú stabbed and cut into the mass of tentacled beasts, positioning themselves next to Jeanne to keep the creatures at bay. They couldn't stop here, they needed to push through!

"Kiyohime, Elizabeth, rotate to the front!" Ritsuka ordered. "Clear a path!"

Lancer and Saber performed a flawless disengage from the narrow hallway right as Kiyohime and Elizabeth went on the offensive. The Berserker brought two fingers to her mouth and bathed the hallway in a torrent of flickering flames. Whatever these monsters were, they were definitely not immune to fire. They screeched and burned as Kiyohime's sapphire flames raged through the passageway.

Elizabeth planted her spear into the ground and hopped on top of it. She inhaled sharply, and _sang_.

At least, theoretically, it was singing. It had the appearance of someone trying really hard to sing someone to death. The amplification of sound and vibration ripped through the hallway. The mass of tentacled freaks that surged forwards to replace the crumbling front was blasted by the sheer overpressure of Elizabeth's performance. As the soundwaves tore through the stone and cracked the ceiling and floor alike, the source of their problems became visible.

A Servant stood at the far end of the hallway. He was clad in wide, flowing robes of purple and blue. The amount of folds made him look broad, almost bloated. If the inky black cassock and red patterns on his robes didn't make him look evil, his face certainly did. He had huge, rolling eyes and his skin was more grey than white, making him look like a corpse.

He held a downright malicious-looking spellbook in his large, calloused hand. Ritsuka flinched upon seeing that thing, his feet unconsciously taking him a step back.

"Well, long time no see!" He exclaimed, flashing the Chaldean group a smile that disturbed Ritsuka a great deal. It looked genuine. Devout of malice. It was the opposite of Jeanne's other self and it made no sense.

"Gilles!" Jeanne yelled, stabbing one of the creatures as it attempted to rise.

_Gilles? _Marshall Gilles?

The pieces of the puzzle clicked in place.

"Who knew you'd defeat Fafnir, and show yourself here in Orleans…" Gilles mused. "To be honest, I am impressed…"

But then his smile contorted into an expression of pure, bestial anger, and the Servant shouted, "However! However! Oh, my Saint! And your comrades! And that cursed _boy! _Why do you stand in my way? You come into my world destroying everything, and now you're even trying to kill Jeanne d'Arc!"

"You're wrong!" Ritsuka said. "We don't want to hurt her. If we can just talk…if we can just _get through_ to her, nobody else needs to die!"

"You cannot understand her hate!" Gilles roared, his voice rising in pitch with every syllable uttered. "Only I can!"

Maybe he was right. But…even so…"I am willing to try!" Ritsuka retorted. He refused to be intimidated by this man. "To try and _listen_!"

"Gilles de Rais, is she really me?" Jeanne asked, and the raving Caster was instantly calm again.

"…what? What-what-what unforgivable blasphemy!" He replied, his expression one of pure shock. "Even the Saint would despair and rage to hear such a thing! She is, without a doubt, the true Jeanne d'Arc. It is the darkness hidden within her!"

"_Jeanne, if the worst comes to pass, Lancer can kill Gilles with his Noble Phantasm,"_ Ritsuka telepathically told the Ruler. "_But only if you…"_

"_If it comes to that, you do what must be done,"_ Jeanne's reply echoed within his mind.

As Ritsuka relayed the command to Cú, Jeanne planted her banner into the ground and said, "Then as the light, I must face her!"

"Jeanne, I won't let anyone stop me – even you!"

More of the creatures leapt from the shadows. Masses of tattered flesh and writhing tentacles lashed out at the Servants and Ritsuka was pulled back into the centre of their formation.

Something about the Caster's words bothered him. The Master issued his commands, told Siegfried and Cú to keep their flank secure as Jeanne bore the brunt, but it kept nagging at him.

_I won't let anyone stop me._

It was…something about…

_Anyone stop me._

_**Me**__._

Why would Gilles de Rais think they came here to stop him? If he truly was here for his Jeanne, if he truly wanted to protect her, wouldn't that sentence be about her?

_I won't let you stop her_. That was what Ritsuka would have said, had the roles been reversed.

"What's with this giant starfish?" Elizabeth yelped as she pulled her spear from the twitching corpse of one of the creatures. "Oh, gross! This weird liquid is dripping on me! Dripping!"

"So filthy," Kiyohime grumbled. "Master, please protect me."

Fights like these made Ritsuka long for a weapon himself. What he couldn't do with a cannon lined up in the hall. It was a classic chokepoint; Siegfried, Jeanne or Cú could plant themselves in front of the horde and hold them off for hours. If only the roles were reversed…

"Do your job as a Servant, okay!" Mash told the Berserker, shoving back one of the flailing creatures.

"Let's turn this starfish problem into a cleaning problem!" Cú yelled.

Siegfried molded his prana into his sword and slashed in a wide arc. His blade swept forth, guiding a wave of twilight energy through the hallway. The hallways shuddered and fell apart as the wave incinerated the creatures and knocked the Caster to the ground.

But it didn't kill him.

"Curse you, curse you curse you!" Gilles spat. "In that case, take me on! My comrade Prelati…Grant me your power!"

"We just need to get past him!" Ritsuka said. "Siegfried, hold him off!"

One of the creatures latched onto Kiyohime. The draconic Berserker merely scoffed and engulfed herself in a corona of flames that blew a hole through the ceiling. "No. We'll help you hold them off, Master. You go ahead!"

"Right, go do what you're here for!" Elizabeth added.

"You two…thank you!" Mash replied. "Jeanne, come!"

The Ruler didn't respond. She stood there, staring at the Caster as he called forth another wave of crawling freaks.

"Jeanne!" Ritsuka cried. He reached for her shoulder. He had no illusion that he could drag her with him, but the gesture snapped her out of her reverie. "Come on!"

She jolted. "…I-I'm sorry. It's nothing. Please, all of you, be safe!"

With the hallway blown wide open, it was a wonder the palace hadn't collapsed yet. Siegfried and Cú stabbed and hacked a path through the endless horde of monsters, carving their way to the throne room.

"_Ritsuka, there is no end to these things!" _Doctor Roman spoke through the datapad. "_It's his Noble Phantasm! Even if you were to kill a thousand, a thousand more would take their place!"_

"Lancer, Saber, guard our rear," Ritsuka ordered. "Don't let anyone come after us."

"No problem, Master!" Cú Chulainn said. He spun his spear in one hand before gripping it with both hands. "These things have to face me before they set one tentacle into that room!"

Confident that they would not be disturbed in what would likely be the final confrontation, Ritsuka followed Jeanne into the room that lay beyond.

This was likely the throne room; larger than all the other rooms and reinforced with decorated pillars. In contrast to the rest of the palace, the throne room was pristine. Even the red carpet was stainless. And in the centre stood the armoured figure of Jeanne d'Arc. She stood casually with her own banner held behind her back, its flag rustling in an unseen wind.

"That was faster than I thought," she commented, again, without a hint of emotion. "I didn't even have the chance to summon another Servant."

"Go ahead," Ritsuka muttered to the Ruler by his side. He felt Elizabeth use her Noble Phantasm again, and winced at the pain it caused. _Almost there. _ "Do your thing."

"Dragon Witch!" She said, boldly striding towards her darkened self. "You – "

"So you made it here, huh?" The black-armoured Saint replied. "Gilles is…alive, but delayed. I suppose that's fine."

"Before you killed her, Marie left me one instruction," Jeanne said. "And that was to tell you what you needed to hear. And I have a question for you, too."

"It's too late for talking – "

"It's a very simple question, really. Do you remember your family?"

The other Jeanne frowned. "Huh?"

Mash looked confused, but Ritsuka thought he understood. He glanced at Mash, silently telling her not to interfere. Not yet.

"I asked you a simple question. No matter how vivid my memories of battle are, I remember far more of my life as a simple country girl. Even my dark side should remember those peaceful days. No, it's precisely _because _she remembers them, that the hatred and betrayal brought her such pain."

Her darker self stared at her in shock. "I…I…" she muttered.

And then, Jeanne smiled. It was a sad smile, filled with pity instead of mirth. "You don't remember, do you?"

"What…what does it matter?" The dark Saint growled, her expression thunderous. "Whether I remember or not, I am still Jeanne d'Arc!"

"You're right. It doesn't matter. But that settles it. I shall defeat the "Dragon Witch". With sadness, not anger."

With that, Jeanne d'Arc discarded her banner and drew her sword.

The other Jeanne drew her sword as well, pointing it at her Ruler counterpart. "Shut up! What is your pity before my murderous intent? Let's see your surpass me – Jeanne d'Arc!"

The two Saints clashed Ritsuka could barely follow their movements. They were so fast, no hesitation. Strike and block and counter-strike – their movements were like a continuous stream of rapid-fire strikes, each of which was powerful enough to gauge through solid stone like it was nothing.

But as their duel continued, something became clear to Ritsuka. Furiously, the hateful Saint wailed on her counterpart, viciously hacking away at her original self with her sword. Her attacks were brutal and merciless, certainly powerful enough to kill lesser Servants with one solid hit. He doubted even Cú could survive a direct hit. But as their furious dance continued, it became clear that Jeanne was more than capable of holding her ground. She deflected each blow delivered upon her and retaliated with precision and grace. Her strikes lacked the power her other self possessed, but she moved with…

Ritsuka almost wanted to call it "purpose". Jeanne d'Arc knew what she fought for, knew what was at stake. Furthermore, she had fought battles like these many times before. There were clear differences between both women, but only one "Jeanne d'Arc" knew how to compensate for them.

Their fight raged on, with both Saints attempting to gain an advantage over the other. But it could not last. As the darkened Saint raised her sword to summon a circle of hovering, burning spears, Jeanne darted forwards. Her blade slipped through her hateful counterpart's armour and found its mark.

The other Jeanne gasped. Her eyes widened as a fine splatter of blood burst from her mouth. The Ruler slowly pulled her sword out, then stepped back, watching her dark self sink through her knees and collapse. She could only stare into the eyes of her original self and see determination and sadness in her eyes.

Nobody moved. Not the Chaldean Servants, the Master, or Jeanne d'Arc herself.

"How…" she said. "I have the Holy Grail…"

Ritsuka felt a hollow feeling rise within his stomach. A blackness that he couldn't wrestle down. He knew this would happen. He had known ever since the death of the Saber in Fuyuki's cave. But despite that…despite knowing how it would end, he had hoped this time would be different.

Just as the mortally-wounded Saint slumped to the ground, Gilles de Rais burst into the room. He looked bloodied and bruised, but he didn't actually seem that much worse for wear.

Of course, if Ritsuka's suspicions were true, that only made sense.

"Oh…Jeanne…my Jeanne…what a pitiful sight you are…" he said.

Jeanne looked at her fallen counterpart, then back at the twisted Caster. "So that's how it is!"

"Yes, you have a powerful intuition," Gilles responded with that smile of his. Ritsuka hated it.

"Jeanne? What do you mean?" Mash asked.

"It's because she never had the Holy Grail…" Ritsuka quietly said. They had to end this, now. In a few moments, he'd be joining Jeanne's counterpart on the ground. He only had enough magical energy left for one more move…one final effort.

"No, it's more, Master," Jeanne replied. "That Servant never existed in the Throne of Heroes. As long as she wasn't an aspect of my darkness, there was no other conclusion I could make. And that massive strength of hers…where did it come from? That couldn't have been anything but the Holy Grail. In other words…"

Mash's eyes widened as comprehension dawned. "Then, the Dragon Witch herself - ?"

"Exactly!" Gilles exclaimed. A dark, purple glow radiated from his spellbook, pouring onto the ground. "The Dragon Witch herself was my wish!"

It was simple. His wish had been to revive Jeanne d'Arc from the bottom of his heart. But…

"It rejected me! For all its omnipotent power, it couldn't do that! But my wish was only for you! So I created a new you!"

And thus, the dark version of Jeanne. But he never told her that. Her left her as she was, filled with an all-consuming hatred but no real _reason_, no identity of her own to guide that hatred and make it her own.

"Gilles, even if you could revive me, I would never become your Dragon Witch."

Gilles' eyes were almost pleading as he said, "So kind…your words are too kind. However, Jeanne…your kindness has made your forget one thing. Even if you never hated this country – I HATED THIS COUNTRY!"

Mash flinched away from the suddenly shouting Caster, holding her shield tightly. She looked at Ritsuka, uncertain. All he could offer her was a weak smile, though he felt close to collapsing. _It will be alright._

"Gilles…" Jeanne muttered.

"You will forgive them, I'm sure. But I never will! Not God! Not the King! Not the nation!"

And that, in a twisted sense, Ritsuka understood. Gilles and Jeanne had known and fought alongside each other for _years_. He had only known Mash – and the Director – for a couple of weeks at most.

"I'll destroy them all! I'll kill them all! That is the wish I made upon the Holy Grail! DO NOT GET IN MY WAY, JEANNE D'ARC!" The Caster roared.

But that was the crux of the problem, wasn't it? Ritsuka didn't know what the future held, didn't know what needed to be sacrificed for the sake of humanity, but he was never going to harm someone who didn't deserve it. And even then…if the people important to him were also going to suffer, then what was the damn point?

The maddened Caster's mana outpour grew stronger and stronger, but it was different from the release of a Noble Phantasm. He was going to perform magic on an enormous scale. That could not be allowed to happen.

Jeanne glanced at Ritsuka over her shoulder. The concern she showed him was real – as was the almost imperceptible nod she gave him.

This had gone on long enough and she knew it.

"Yes, you're right," the Saint retorted with a sad smile. "It makes perfect sense for you to hate, and or you to use the Grail's power to destroy France. And I – I will stop you. As a Ruler, the judge of the Holy Grail War." With both hands, she rammed her standard into the ground and exclaimed, "We will stand in your way, Gilles!"

Ritsuka groaned as he cast the last power boosting spell. He just hoped Cú would be here fast enough to make it work…he didn't want to depend on another Seal. "Mash! This is it! Give it all you got!"

"Right! Moving to engage Gilles de Rais!"

_"Got it Master! I'm coming!" _Cú's boisterous voiced sounded within his mind. Finally, Ritsuka gave in to the burning exhaustion. He dropped to his knees, blackness clouding his mind. He struggled to remain conscious, however. He still had one more thing to do.

The other Jeanne d'Arc lay on the ground. Her cold, yellow eyes were locked with his. She watched him sit down right next to her. Her gauntlets tightened as she clenched her fists.

Cú arrived like a bolt of crimson lightning. He flashed by Jeanne's side and readied his spear. He was followed closely by Siegfried, who didn't even have a scratch on him.

Ritsuka looked at the fallen woman. _Almost there,_ he thought. _Almost done. _"I meant what I said, you know. What happened to you…was unforgivable."

The young woman scoffed. "You have compassion for me? **Me**? The one who dreams of seeing you crucified and burned like I was?"

Ritsuka sighed. A wave of dizziness washed over him. "You were right. Nobody could understand your hate. But the thing is…the thing is, nobody bothered to _listen _to you."

She didn't respond. She just stared at him with that detached, hateful look of hers.

_Nobody's ever praised me for anything!_

"Nobody listened to you…" Ritsuka whispered. He silently shook his head. It didn't have to _be _like this. "There's a place for you. At Chaldea. We don't have to kill each other, and you don't have to stop hating. Just…come with us."

It was likely because of the exhaustion. He almost – _almost _– believed he saw her hesitate before she snarled and lashed out at him. The fingertips of her gauntlets raked his face, dragging two bloody trails across his cheek. After that, her arm fell to the ground, bereft of strength.

"Fool," she hissed. "My hatred will never disappear. I'll never forgive them – and I'll never forgive you."

Ritsuka closed his eyes. He didn't want to see what happened next, though he could still hear it. Jeanne d'Arc – he never could think of her as the Dragon Witch – was gone now.

At least she wasn't alone in the end. That had to count for something, didn't it?

He tenderly reached for his cheek, It hurt, but it probably wasn't serious. If Jeanne had struck him with even a fragment of her full strength, she would have torn his head off.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Ritsuka watched the battle unfold. Jeanne and Mash on the frontlines, with Cú charging up his spear.

"I'll have your heart!" He heard Cú shout. "Gae Bolg!"

Through hazy eyes, Ritsuka saw the Lancer's spear glow a bright red. There was a pressure in the air now, an ominous feeling that every Servant could feel.

Cú shot forwards like a missile, his feet gauging through the floor like it was wet tissue paper. He thrust towards the Caster and an arc of crimson lightning burst forwards. It arced through the air and rammed itself through Gilles' chest.

_Mission accomplished_, Ritsuka thought. He watched the Caster shriek and stagger backwards, clutching his chest.

"Not, possible! Even with the power of the Grail, I still…"

"Gilles, enough," Jeanne said. "Get some rest. You did such a good job. Believing in a little girl who had no clue, you even liberated this town. No matter who you are now, I believe in who you were then. My death will light the way for someone else. That's all I ever wanted. Now let's go back to the time where we belong!"

She still grieved for him. Even as the Caster's body slowly dissipated into a cloud of golden dust, Jeanne's expression was one of sorrow and loss.

The fallen knight and the fallen Saint were no more. Mash walked over to Ritsuka and offered him a hand, smiling. "Grail recovery complete, Master! We did it!"

Ritsuka's legs felt like had turned into wet sand. He offered Mash a little smile in return and allowed her to haul him back to his feet – whereupon he almost slumped to the ground again.

"So this is what magic overuse does to you, huh…" he muttered.

Cú Chulainn scooped the Holy Grail from the ground. He held the golden cup in one hand, observing it with an unimpressed expression. "So much trouble for such a little thing?"

"This is it?" Siegfried said. He sheathed his sword and approached Ritsuka. He marvelled at how _big _the Saber was; he towered over him, easily a full foot larger than he was. But his smile was gentle and warm "You did it, Master."

Siegfried offered him a hand, which Ritsuka took without hesitation. Already, the Servants began taking on a soft glow. Soon, the Singularity would fall apart, and they would all disappear. "Thank you for everything you did, Siegfried. Without you…"

"_Rayshift preparations complete!" _Doctor Roman enthusiastically yelled. "_You get back to Chaldea this instant young man!"_

"Are you leaving already?" Jeanne asked, looking very disappointed.

"So soon?" Elizabeth joined in.

"There are lots of places just like here that need fixing," Ritsuka explained. He felt more lightheaded now, and his vision narrowed again. "We've only just started."

"Hmmph...well, I've achieved my goal, so I suppose it's fine," the little Lancer said, looking dejected. "Goodbye Little Puppy. You fought…fairly well."

Kiyohime loudly closed her fan and put it away. "Is this goodbye? Don't worry Master, I can be rather persistent. No matter where you go, I'll follow. That's what love is, you know? Farewell."

Their dematerialization had begun. Already, golden particles began floating around them. With reality about to collapse, there was no reason for them to hang around.

"I'm sure we'll be summoned again soon," Amadeus said. "Goodbye, Master. Goodbye, Jeanne d'Arc. It truly was a pleasure to see you all perform."

Ritsuka felt another wave of dizziness wash over him. He clung to Mash as his legs trembled dangerously.

"Ritsuka, Mash," Jeanne began. "Our meeting…our battles, even the lives we lost…it will disappear soon, won't it? But, even so…"

Without another word, the Saint reached out and wrapped her arms around the both of them. It was a calm, almost motherly embrace, taking Ritsuka completely by surprise. When she let them go and stepped back again, he suddenly missed it. The embrace had been comforting somehow.

"Of course, it's a joyous thing that the lives lost will return to us. But I feel like I will meet you again somehow. My intuition can be pretty good, you know?"

Ritsuka and Mash could only smile at that comment. The thought that they meet reunite in the future made saying goodbye a lot easier. More tolerable.

From the entrance at the other end of the room, a man in gleaming, silver armour entered. It was Gilles, before his life had gone to hell.

Jeanne saw him too. She turned to him, then looked at the two Chaldeans, unsure of what to do.

"Go to him," Ritsuka whispered to her. "And thank you, Jeanne d'Arc. For…everything," he managed to add.

"Farewell. Even if all this disappears beyond the void, I'm sure something will – "

The rest of her sentence never came. The world around them exploded into a singular, blue dot, which collapsed into an infinite black hole as the Rayshift commenced.

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

**Chaldea Security Organization**

**Control Room**

Doctor Romani Archaman rushed to the central console in front of the massive window that oversaw the Deployment Room. The massive viewport had been blown out during the initial explosions. Dried blood still clung to the ruined consoles at navigation and operations. While Ritsuka Fujimaru and Mash went through the Singularity, Da Vinci had done her best to clean the Control Room of all human remains, but the blood and blast damage that still remained was…disconcerting.

But most disconcerting was that only Doctor Roman, Da Vinci and staff members Sylvia and Hikowa were present in a room that usually needed a staff of twenty. Even with Ritsuka and Mash about to return, the room was as still and empty as a tomb.

At the moment, only three stations were lit: system status, vital signs and the central control – Roman's own station. At the moment, said station displayed the biosigns of Ritsuka, Mash and Lancer, as well as the relevant data pertaining to their Rayshift.

The Control Room oversaw the cavernous Deployment Room below. The enormous chamber was still littered with debris and rubble from the sabotage, but the Global Environment Model CHALDEAS was still going strong. It was linked with a bridge to an equally-raised platform, where the Master coffins were submerged.

Right now, only three of those coffins were still upright. Doctor Roman saw on his screen that the three had returned safely, but he needed to see it for himself. He had to be sure.

Within the coffins, the original spiritual structure of the Master and his two Servants rushed back together like a puzzle with a million pieces. The Doctor wondered what that felt like; the process was far from comfortable, but with the extensive damage Chaldea had suffered, it was a miracle that Rayshifting was still possible at all!

"Confirming status now!" Sylvia called. "Molecular constitution complete!"

"Doctor Roman, we are green across the board!" Hikowa determined a second later. "Ready to retrieve now."

"Alright!" Roman responded. He leant over the railing, careful not to cut his hands on the pieces of glass that remained, and called to McKay, "They're ready for retrieval!"

"Got it Doctor!" McKay yelled back. "Meuniere, get your ass in gear! We're retrieving the team!"

Roman watched the two coffin staff officers get ready to retrieve the team, a warm sensation of accomplishment slowly replacing the anxiety he still felt.

_Welcome back, Mash, Ritsuka, _he thought.

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

**AN: **_And so ends the Orleans Singularity. I tried to write out the events that took place in the Singularity without straying too far from canon material, but that won't be the case in future chapters. Because of the ever-growing roster of Servants and the character development they, along with Ritsuka will go through, the Singularities will play out very differently from how they were portrayed in the game. One or two Singularities might seem downright AU because of this. _

_Looking at you there, Septem. I didn't think too much of it at the time because I really like Nero Claudius, but I still feel like Septem was a missed opportunity. I hope it won't upset too many people when I completely overhaul it._

_One other thing; starting the 14th, I'll be going into quarantine until the 3th of July, where I'll only have access to my phone. It's just work related, nothing serious happened, but I still feel like I should mention this because I won't be able to get any writing done in that period of time. _

_With that out of the way, I hope you all liked this chapter. Stay safe out there, and don't forget to leave a Review!_


	6. Chapter 6: Miles to go

**Chapter Five: Miles to go**

"It was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice."

_\- Joseph Conrad_

* * *

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Within Chaldea's medical wing, two dozen diagnosis beds with accompanying rows machines, consoles and displays had been positioned along the left and right walls. The lime coloured floor was brightly polished and, as of recently, quite sterile. Those men and women whose injuries were not severe enough to warrant the use of a cryogenic chamber had been placed in private beds in the adjacent surgery rooms, tended to by Roman, herself and a stressed-out young doctor. Roman had given the poor thing a couple of hours to get some rest, conveniently allowing for a more private conversation with the Master.

Da Vinci pointed at a nearby console with her staff. The high intensity lights built into the ceiling polarized. They provided a clear, cool, indirect illumination that Ritsuka was sure to find soothing after having dragon fire and mighty Noble Phantasms etch his retinas.

"Better, right?" Roman said as he positioned himself at the young Master's feet. "I know this isn't too traditional, but we can't take any risks. How are you feeling?"

Ritsuka shrugged. The cut on his face had been cleaned and bandaged, and the burns on his arms treated. "Exhausted. A bit warm and more than a bit confused. All things considered? I'm fine."

"I'll be the judge of that," Da Vinci replied. She strolled over to the console left of Ritsuka's head and typed in a series of commands. A bank of holographic displays hummed to life, floating serenely. She took all of two seconds to take in all the graphs, figures and numbers displayed on them, then smiled as she concluded that he was, in fact, fine. "Must be some Rayshift-lag," she quipped. "Uncertainty errors. How is that one hundred percent compatibility treating you, mister Master?"

"At least I didn't vomit all over your tidy floors," Ritsuka replied. "I'm glad to see you managed to get the medical wing working again. How are the others?"

"All in due time," Roman quickly said. "First, I need a quick debriefing, and then you need some sleep. Your mind needs some REM sleep to acclimatize to the latest Rayshift and…well…"

He took a quick look at the graphs of Ritsuka's magic circuits, and Da Vinci peeked over his shoulders. It seemed Ritsuka had overtaxed them quite a bit. Of course, that only made sense; the average Magus in Chaldea would consider him less than a third-rate Magus. He likely never even used those circuits of his before he came to Chaldea. It was like expecting someone who never walked in their life to run a marathon.

"I can do that, yes," the Master nodded. "You've been observing us throughout the operation. Where do you want to start?"

Roman produced a simple notepad, where he had written all the occurrences wherein he lost contact, took a break for a quick drink and bite, or required a bathroom break. "These moments, please. Oh, and uhm…everything that happened in the final confrontation. We…uh…had some interference."

He tried really hard not to look guilty at that one. Of course, Da Vinci would not let him get away with that.

"Interference in the form of human fallacy, yes," she wryly said. She saw that the patch on Ritsuka's face had grown dark. "Oh, your cheek is bleeding again. A moment…"

As Ritsuka recounted what happened after Roman had his little accident, Da Vinci ran another scan, this time to search for any latent hints of magic, just in case.

Being the genius that she was, she almost immediately noticed the magic that had been etched into the wound on his face. It wasn't magic born from an incantation or a ritual, but a curse driven by motivation and passion. Spite, hatred, rage, lust, she felt all that carved into that little wound.

She winced, silently telling Roman that she found something. Being the semi-professional that he was, he kept his expression neutral while he listened to Ritsuka's story.

Da Vinci listened closely as well. His account of the final confrontation and the subsequent battle corresponded with the readings Chaldea's equipment gave off during the monitoring process. She was glad they managed to restore _that _branch of functionality, at least.

"And that cut on your cheek?" Da Vinci nonchalantly asked as she began to remove to curse. To a great genius such as herself, it was only a small piece of magecraft. That, and the curse itself wasn't all that insidious to begin with. It was crude.

"This? She gave it to me."

That could be interpreted in many different ways, but she chose not to pursue it. Roman would follow up on this tomorrow, no doubt.

"Sounds like a very interesting situation," she said as she worked to remove the low-level curse. "You've met a lot of powerful Heroic Spirits in Orleans. Jeanne d'Arc, Siegfried…"

"I can only imagine how useful it would be to have them in Chaldea," Roman said. "The FATE system will be ready tomorrow for another go."

"Can hardly wait," Ritsuka muttered.

"Hey, Mash and you did a fine job." Roman gave the young Master a reassuring smile. "Get some rest. We'll continue tomorrow."

When all was said and done, the two of them left Ritsuka free to enjoy a full night of sleep. They had important matters to discuss in the aftermath of the Orleans Singularity, the proper decommissioning of the acquired Holy Grail being the foremost.

At least, that was what Roman thought. Truth be told, Da Vinci believed that they shouldn't concentrate on disposing of these great relics just yet. After all, Chaldea might just have need for an "omnipotent wish granting device".

Being the genius she was, she already had an idea for this particular Grail.

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

Chaldea's cafeteria was quiet. Over two hundred and fifty people used to eat, talk and laugh here. Now, the silence that lingered in the cavernous room was almost painful.

Ritsuka had retreated to a small, obscure corner of the cafeteria. He stared at the hot drink that Head Chef Gardner had wordlessly given him a couple of minutes ago. What little snow still clung to his frame was starting to melt now. Small droplets of water occasionally dripped on the table. The weather outside had quieted down somewhat during his days of absence, but it might take weeks before the storm subsided. He had to store his plans for a proper memorial.

His hands were partially bandaged up, as was his chest and the side of his face. Minor lacerations and superficial burns, nothing too serious. Doctor Roman had assured him that there wouldn't be any long-term damage from his overuse of magic either.

Ritsuka wasn't sure. He had other things on his mind.

_My hatred will never disappear. And I'll never forgive you._

What makes a person?

The Servants he met in Orleans were people. Living people with hopes, dreams and fears. Their feelings and thoughts couldn't be denied. And the other Jeanne…she was one too. She hated, she suffered. It wasn't her pain, not really, but…it kind of was.

She was a fake whose rage was not her own. Prior to Orleans, she didn't even exist. Now that the Singularity was gone, she would be gone too. Or maybe it was more accurate to say that now, she never existed.

False memories.

What makes a person?

He slowly ran a hand through his dark hair, shaking off the remaining flakes of snow. He then reached for steaming cup in front of him and carefully took a swig.

Coffee. Sweet and hot. Exactly what he needed. Thank you, Chef Gardner.

As he mulled over Jeanne d'Arc's final words, Ritsuka heard faint footsteps from behind. A second later, someone reached out and lightly touched his shoulder.

A jolt ran through his body and he turned around in his seat. "Mash?"

"Good morning Senpai!" His Kouhai said. She sounded happy, but there was a trace of concern in her gaze that was hard to ignore. "You weren't in your room this morning. I...wanted to see if you were alright?"

Ritsuka offered her a reassuring smile. "Thanks, Mash. I'm uh…I'm fine. There were a couple of things I needed to do, and I woke up early tonight, so…"

Mash blinked. Her large, violet eyes ran over the droplets of half-molten water on the table. "Then, did you at least sleep well?"

Ritsuka shrugged. "I remember dreaming, but I can't remember what. I think I dozed off around nine, so that's eight hours of sleep. I left the medical bay as soon as I woke up."

"Glad to hear it!" She replied. "I'm happy to know that you got plenty of rest! You used a lot of magical energy in the last battle, so you need to rest as much as possible!"

He couldn't disagree with that. "Sounds fair. We need to be fit for the next summoning, right?"

Mash nodded. "Right. Everybody is hard at work to repair the damage Lev's sabotage did. The more Servants we summon, the easier that goes. Oh, that reminds me, Doctor Roman wants to talk to you, Senpai."

Ritsuka knew that. The moment their group successfully Rayshifted back to Chaldea, Roman insisted on an elaborate medical examination, followed by immediate bedrest. There hadn't been any time to continue the debriefing; the exhaustion from magic overuse had made that impossible.

"I'm guessing we have some catching up to do," he joked. "Where is he now?"

"In the Director's Office," Mash replied. "Do you want to have some breakfast first, or…?"

Ritsuka stood up from his chair and quickly downed the rest his coffee. "Nah. That can wait. Roman probably can't."

Chaldea was a wreck. Lev's sabotage left the organization crippled, with the overwhelming majority of its people dead or close to dead. It would take a miracle to get Chaldea functioning again. Worse still was the motivation, which had reached an all-time low. The two dozen survivors didn't have the luxury of Singularities to keep themselves distracted. Without Servants, nothing stood between them and their personal demons. Some who survived, wished that they hadn't survived at all.

But at its heart, Chaldea had not been broken yet. The dim light that illuminated her soot-stained hallways was a testimony to that. Everybody fought tooth and nail to keep the observatory from teetering over the edge.

Walking alongside Mash through the ruined hallways of the observatory, Ritsuka wondered what Cú was up to. With so little people remaining, the Celtic Lancer had his work cut out for him. Chaldea nearly collapsed after the detonations, which meant that most passageways and sections were still filled with rubble and debris. Some areas would be too dangerous for normal humans to enter, either because of rampant magic or radiation flooding those segments.

Just another reason to continue summoning Servants.

After a couple of minutes, the two of them passed by the security checkpoint that marked the transition of sector C – residence – to sector D – administration and the offices. The reinforced window had a large crack in it. Ritsuka peeked inside, but didn't see anyone.

"I think security was hit just as hard," Mash said. "I haven't seen one guard since we came back."

"Maybe in the medical bay?" Ritsuka suggested. He tried to sound hopeful, but the chances of anyone surviving the explosions when they were one of the primary targets were…slim.

And judging by the way Mash looked at the window, she had to realize that as well.

Ritsuka tore his gaze from the empty checkpoint and continued on. Eventually, Mash and him came to a halt in front of Doctor Roman's office.

The Director's Office.

Uncertainty welled up within Ritsuka's stomach. Nervousness inched its way into existence.

"Senpai?"

He had not set foot in this office since then. He had no right to be here.

"Uhm, Senpai?"

They _just _retrieved the second Grail, who knew how many more there were? How many Singularities Lev set up as an anchor to bind humanity to its fate? He shouldn't even be –

"Senpai, breathe," Mash ordered, gently nudging him to shake him out of his thoughts.

Ritsuka did.

After a handful of moments, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"It's open," the muffled voice of Roman sounded from the other side of the door.

Ritsuka opened the door. Her office was just like he remembered it from the very first time he set foot in there. The warm glow of the chandelier above illuminated the room. One side of the study was reserved for rows of spell tomes, scrolls and ancient books; the other for artefacts and more modern amenities.

Roman sat on the other side of the desk, offering the Master a smile as he entered the room. "Mash, thank you for bringing Ritsuka here. If you could please report in with Da Vinci? She needs your assistance with something."

"Oh, ehm, of course," Mash replied, casting an uncertain look towards the Master. "I'll be right there."

Once the Shielder left the room, Roman clasped his hands on the table and gestured for Ritsuka to sit. Good morning, Ritsuka. You'll be pleased to know that Da Vinci took care of Orleans' Holy Grail. She hooked it up somewhere it can't do any harm."

"Good," Ritsuka replied. "That's good."

Roman nodded, letting the silence stretch on for a couple of seconds before he leant back in his chair and asked, "So how are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess, " Ritsuka replied. "I slept well enough."

Roman looked him in the eye. "Ritsuka. I may be the acting Director, but I am also the Chief of Chaldea's medical team. No communication between you and me will leave this room. It's called Medical Confidentiality. You can be honest with me."

Medical confidentiality…fair enough. This was only the first Singularity since the Fuyuki Incident. He needed to keep doing his best for the others and bottling everything up wasn't going to help with that.

"The other Jeanne d'Arc," Ritsuka slowly began. "She didn't exist prior to the Singularity. She was Gilles de Rais' wish given form and now, with the Singularity gone, nobody will remember her. Nobody but us."

"And you can't get that out of your mind?" Roman asked.

Ritsuka shook his head. "Everything about her was fake. Her face, her memories…even her _emotions _didn't belong to her. The only thing she had was her hatred, and even that was…" He trailed off, searching for the right words. "Thrust upon her by the Grail."

"She was a fabrication made by the Grail, yes," Roman said. "But her feelings and thoughts were genuine. Maybe they were built upon lies, but they were _built _nonetheless. Even her actions can't be denied, wrong as they might have been."

Ritsuka rubbed his face and nodded wearily. "So what makes a person? Mash and I are now the only ones who remember her."

"I can offer you my own opinion, if you like?"

"Please."

Standing up, Roman walked to the front of his desk and sat down on the edge, staring at one of the portraits that hung on the wall. Ritsuka very deliberately kept his gaze focused on the desk instead.

"You know, my own job is to keep you alive when you Rayshift. If I can observe that you exist, you exist, and history will not overwrite you. It doesn't take a nation remembering your name to verify your existence. As long as someone knows you – or loves you – you exist."

Ritsuka brought his hand to the side of his face, involuntarily touching the bandage on his cheek. "So all the people who lived and died during the Singularities?"

"Any damage or deaths that occur during a Singularity is undone upon fixing it," Roman firmly stated. "They existed, it happened, but it was also corrected."

Did that mean Jeanne d'Arc got her revenge without actually killing anyone? No, she definitely killed a lot of people, but history brought them back? Undid their deaths?

Ritsuka frowned. He wasn't sure he understood. "I'm sorry, it's a little…"

"A lot to take in?" Roman offered. "Don't worry. Some Clocktower Mages spend their entire lives trying to understand, often fruitlessly."

That sounded like a life wasted to Ritsuka. Maybe it was part of being a third-rate Mage. "I think I can work with that. Thanks, Roman."

The doctor nodded at him, then walked back to his desk and sat down. "No problem. I'm glad I was able to help. I don't know if your recall me telling you this yesterday, but we've gathered enough energy to perform another summon today. If you could meet us in the Summoning Chamber, two hours from now?"

_Finally!_

Ritsuka grinned. "Sure, I'll be there. Anything I need to know?"

"…actually, yes. There is one matter I need to discuss with you, beforehand."

"Yes?"

Roman sighed. "Back in Lyon, I gave you the order to pull back. Twice, in fact. There was no way you could have survived a battle with the enemy at that point, not even with Lancer helping out. Nevertheless, you ignored that order and stayed."

His tone was friendly, but the message was clear. Ritsuks had disobeyed a direct order from the acting Director and, humanity's last Master or not, that wasn't something he could do.

Be that as it may, Ritsuka was not about to excuse himself for what happened. "By staying, we found Siegfried. Without him, Orleans would have been a total loss."

"But you didn't know that at the moment," Roman argued. "For all you knew, Siegfried was already dead, or somewhere else entirely. You took a massive risk."

Ritsuka nodded once in agreement, then took a deep breath to keep his voice calm. "It wasn't a "spur of the moment" thing, if that's what you think. If we lost Siegfried, we would have had no chance of winning against Fafnir and Jeanne's Servants. The Singularity would have been lost, Roman."

The doctor raised an eyebrow, but didn't interrupt.

"It's one thing to look at the numbers and decide which one looks better. But standing there in that burning city, that's different. I had two, maybe three seconds to...to consider every possible angle of risking our lives to find Siegfried, against…against every possible angle of abandoning him and trying something different. So I made a call. We stayed. And it worked out."

Roman sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I suppose things are different in the field, yes. Technically speaking, as humanity's last Master, everything related to Servants _is _your jurisdiction."

"And as the acting Director, you are my direct superior," Ritsuka pointed out. "In Chaldea, what you says, goes. But out there, I might have to take decisions that go against yours. I can't promise this won't happen again."

Roman leant back in his chair and stared at him for a couple of moment. He didn't look angry, or even upset. He looked…what was that, concerned? Uncertain? "I see. Well, I'll leave the field decisions up to you, then."

"Thank you," Ritsuka replied, feeling relieved. "Let's just hope it won't come to that."

"Hmm…that just leaves me with one last issue."

The Master didn't like the sound of that. "What issue?"

Roman offered him a bitter smile. "The issue of paperwork."

"…I'm sorry?"

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

An important aspect of humanity's restoration was planning for the future. If Chaldea ever succeeded in undoing the incineration of the Human Order, they had to prove to the world exactly _what _happened, _when _it happened and _how _it happened. The rules that the United Nations and the Clock Tower had established were still in place, despite there not being any United Nations or Clock Tower any more.

Simply put, this meant that Chaldea had to keep a perfect record of every single step taken to ensure humanity's survival, since they acted outside of the rules now. The Rayshifts couldn't be authorized, the Spirit Origins gathered couldn't be verified and the Magecraft performed to keep the facility functioning couldn't be supervised.

The solution was simple: documentation. As long as Chaldea's remaining staff kept a detailed log of every day that passed since the incineration of humanity, they would have no trouble proving their innocence to the world once they restored humanity.

In theory.

As it was, Ritsuka had too much on his mind to start filing reports. Things have been so hectic lately. Straight from the bombings into Fuyuki followed by the campaign in Orleans – he didn't even know which of the staff survived Lev's betrayal. Hell, he didn't even know how _many _survived.

He glanced at his datapad. He had two hours before they needed him in the Summoning Chamber. Plenty of time to go around Chaldea. Make sure everything was running as it should.

Being Chaldea's headquarters, the observatory's massive interior was divided into divisions. The facilities close to the surface had survived the bombing relatively unscathed, while the deeper levels almost collapsed when the explosives went off. Lancer helped out as best as he could, but without the people and equipment needed to man those facilities, the majority of the divisions were best left defunct.

Ritsuka decided to head to the first level of the West Wing first, where the Research Labs could be found. If he wasn't mistaken, that was where Da Vinci resided most of the time. Roman mentioned her needing Mash's help with something. Maybe he could make himself useful there?

The door to the Labs soundlessly slid open, revealing what appeared to be a well-lit, downsized hangar with several raised sections, separated by railings and large, bulky machines and consoles. It looked like a combination between a modern laboratory and several magus Workshops. Da Vinci stood in the centre of the room, discussing something with a stern-looking woman in a white lab coat. Two other staff members were busy discussing something in the back of the room.

But Mash wasn't here.

Da Vinci glanced over her shoulder at the Master, winked, then left without saying another word. Her conversational partner turned and spotted him. She looked to be in her early thirties, or late twenties. Her hair was tied back in a loose knot, letting more than a few bangs frame her face.

"Hello mister Fujimaru," she began. "Welcome to the Research Labs. I am doctor Catherine Loftus. I oversee the Technology Development Division here in Chaldea."

She had her arms clasped behind her back, standing ramrod straight. She had an air of professionalism and command, but the dark circles around her eyes and the tired, almost haunted look in her eyes painted a different picture.

"Please," he said in what he hoped was a friendly voice. He offered her his hand. "Just call me Ritsuka."

She looked down at his gloved hand for a moment, before hesitantly shaking it. "What…can I do for you, Ritsuka?"

"I'm just going around Chaldea, seeing if everyone's alright and…a-and see if they need anything," he said, mentally slapping himself for his choice of words. Of course they weren't alright. Nobody would be alright for a long time.

Thankfully, doctor Loftus didn't comment on that. "We have access to Chaldea's supply manifest. Anything we need, we can get from the warehouses."

"That's not entirely what I meant," Ritsuka replied. "Supplies are limited right now. But when we Rayshift, we can take materials from the Singularities back to Chaldea."

The doctor's eyes widened as she instantly realized what that meant. "In that case, let me rescind my previous statement. All of Chaldea's research and development takes place here in the Labs. We ensure the efficiency of Chaldea's mission through a mixture of Thaumaturgy and science, be that developing new Mystic Codes, upgrading Chaldea's existing infrastructure and systems or researching concepts that might improve the quality of life in Chaldea itself."

Ritsuka was impressed. And with Da Vinci to lead that development of technology…he wondered what the Labs could cook up in the coming weeks. "But?"

"_But _our supplies are limited," the doctor continued. "And most of it are kept in reserve for Engineering, considering they actually _built _what we develop."

That last bit had a hint of bitterness to it that Ritsuka wasn't sure what to do with. "What do you need?"

"Materials…artefacts, matters associated with the Mystics…but I suppose you have more to worry about than procuring artefacts."

"We'll have to schedule supply runs to keep Chaldea in shape regardless, since we're completely cut off from the world," Ritsuka offered. "Forward me a list and I'll see what I can do. Orleans had enough Wyverns to build a castle from."

Her weary eyes glistered with interest when she heard that. "Truly? Wyverns? The materials we can gather from _one _such Phantasmal would be enough to keep us busy for the coming days."

"I'll see what I can do, doctor."

"We would appreciate that sincerely, Ritsuka," she said, before a notification on her datapad drew her attention.

A couple of moments passed, after which the Master figured out that doctor Loftus had better things to take care of at that moment.

"I'll let you get back to work," he said. She gave him a vague gesture he interpreted as an "okay", and he quietly took his leave.

Ritsuka glanced at his datapad. He still had some time left until the Summoning took place. He could visit Engineering, see if they needed anything that could ease their workload.

…on the other hand, if the Summoning ritual worked out, he'd be managing two Servants instead of one; a number that would only grow in the future. He still wanted to get to know Cú better, and he had to prepare for other possible Singularities. Maybe he should pay a visit to the History Department? At the very least, the people there could help him learn more about Cú Chulainn. They might even have a way of helping him prepare for future Singularities.

His mind made up, Ritsuka plotted a course towards the History Department. One of the many branches Chaldea had established to aid in their ultimate mission, that section of Chaldea in particular was not so much staffed by first-rate Mages, but by people who simply, excelled in their field of expertise.

The History Department was located somewhere in the uppermost reaches of Chaldea. Maybe that was why it had survived the sabotage relatively unscathed; its hallways were still white and pristine. They led the Master through a long if straight path. All he had to do was follow the signs.

Eventually, he came to a halt in front of two massive doors. They looked like they were at least two inches thick and made from dark, smooth wood. There was no knob or handle in sight; instead, the doors had two large, golden rings attached in their midst.

One of the doors was slightly ajar, and a pleasant, orange light was visible through the opening.

Hoping that he wouldn't be interrupting anyone, Ritsuka grabbed a hold of one of the rings and gave it a few knocks. Then. when nobody answered, he stepped inside.

Contrary to the sophisticated architecture of the rest of the observatory, the History Department almost had an old-fashioned look to it. It was built like a cavernous study, two stories high and panelled with rows of bookshelves and the occasional tables with computers and laptops. The lights on the ceiling seemed powered by electricity, but were shaped like white lanterns.

The study seemed lived in. Scrolls and books lay spread across the various tables, transmission lines were tucked away underneath elaborate carpets and a at least three kettles were boiling water at different points in the room. Most interesting to Ritsuka were gilded daguerreotypes that displayed large, finely-crafted buildings he couldn't recognize. They looked like temples, layered pyramids and palaces, but he couldn't be sure.

At the far end of the room, two young women stood in front of a large computer screen, peering intently at whatever it displayed. One of them had short, blue hair that reached halfway past her neck, while the other had her long, brown hair tied in a long tail that reached well to her hips. Both of them were clad in the standard Chaldea Mystic Code.

They looked busy and he really didn't want to disturb anyone. Then again, he just wanted to get to know them.

So, he spoke up. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced, I hope I'm not interrupting?"

His words seemed to startle the short-haired girl badly. She gasped and nearly stumbled to the side. Her colleague cast her a look, before turning to face Ritsuka. "No, not at all. We're just composing…"

Her voice trailed off when she saw him – when she _recognized _him. She looked him over for a long, tense second, before her azure eyes locked with his, filled with a thinly veiled disdain. "You," she hissed. "How dare you show your face here."

Ritsuka stopped his advance immediately, puzzled by the hostile reception. "I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?"

The young woman blinked, seemingly at a loss for words. "You – something _wrong_?" She asked, incredulous at first, but growing more furious with every syllable she uttered. "How about being a third-rate Magus, hmm? How about being a complete and utter fucking _weakling_?"

Her colleague with the shorter hair clasped her hands in front of her mouth and swiftly turned away from the conversation.

Ritsuka struggled to keep his outrage from seeping into his face and tone. He clenched his fists, feeling his nails digging into his skin. Was this a Magus thing? "Fuyuki and Orleans are dealt with. Third-rate or not, I'll deal with the rest of the Singularities as well," he tersely replied .

"Dealt with?" She repeated, bristling at his words. "Is that what you call it? When the two of you Rayshifted and only you came back?"

A slap in his face would have been less of a shock. Less jarring. Her words struck him like a punch to the gut. His anger at her words was gone in an instance as the comprehension set in.

"Olga…" He whispered.

His realization only angered her more. "All the people we had, all the raw talent Chaldea gathered – all of Team A and the other Candidates – and what was left after the explosions was _you_," she spat. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes and her voice grew louder and louder, until she was practically yelling at him. "If it were anyone else, she might have come back to us. But _you _were the one who lived. After Fuyuki…" She inhaled sharply and shook her head. "It should have been you. You should have died that day, Fujimaru, in that cave. And Olga should have lived."

With that last, scathing remark, she turned on her heels and briskly walked off, leaving the Master rooted to his spot.

"I know," he muttered, though nobody was around to hear it anymore. There was nothing he could say. Nothing he _should _say. Olga Marie was gone, and he was still alive. Nothing would change that. Nothing could ever change that.

There was nothing else to it. She was gone, and he lived on. He wished it were the other way.

_It should have been you_.

Ritsuka reached for his face and rubbed the tears away. Not yet. Far too much to do. Until he repaired the Singularities…until he brought humanity back from the brink…

He checked his trembling hands. Glanced at his datapad. Half an hour until the next Summoning. He still had so much left to do.

But he couldn't let Mash see his face like that. Couldn't add to the burden she already carried – the burden all the survivors now carried. He was the only human they could depend on to fix this mess. If they saw him at anything less than his best, what little morale was left would be dashed to the wind.

Ritsuka forced himself to turn around and leave the History Department, struggling to keep back the blackness that rose within him.

_I know that, goddamnit,_ he furiously thought as he pulled the heavy door shut. A feeling of sickening self-disgust rolled through him. His eyes were burning. Lev had dealt the heaviest blow at the very last second and somehow…somehow, he was still alive.

Chaldea's hallways were eerily quiet as he made his way back to his room. Things weren't better now, even a week after everything fell apart. Even the professional Mages barely it together.

After a couple of minutes, Ritsuka was back in the living quarters. Cú would be somewhere around here as well, but Ritsuka didn't know which room the Lancer had picked. Maybe that was something to look into as well, for when they needed something to distract themselves with? Personalizing the rooms more? Mash would probably love the idea, in the future.

Ritsuka was only a couple of meters away from Mash's room when the door suddenly burst open and Fou darted out, followed closely by the Shielder herself.

The little furry familiar practically flew up Ritsuka's leg, circled around his waist and settled on his shoulders. Then, it perked up and stared at Mash, if as daring her to come get him.

"Ah, Senpai! There you are!"

_Can't let her know. _

"Hey Mash," Ritsuka replied, forcing a smile. "I was looking for you. Come on, we'll get to oversee another summoning."

Mash observed his face for a moment, a hint of concern in her eyes. "Are you okay, Senpai?"

Ritsuka wasn't one to lie easily, but he was not going to add to Mash's burden with his own baggage. "It kills me to see Chaldea like this. It feels like we just departed, when everything was normal."

The Demi-Servant offered him a weak smile. "Everybody's doing their best while we were gone. Things can only get better from here on, right?"

Mash had such a positive outlook. It reminded Ritsuka a little bit of his mother. She always tried to concentrate on the positive things as well. The glass was always half full to her.

…she was gone, too. Everybody he knew had burned. He had been too busy lately to really let that settle in.

Ritsuka took a deep breath and forced that thought away as well. He couldn't afford to even think about that right now. If he gave in to grief, he wouldn't be able to pull free again. It would drown him. "I sure hope so. We almost died in Orleans, and it was the first Singularity after the Fuyuki Incident."

Mash smiled, then her eyes widened and she gasped. "That reminds me! I wanted to give you something! Please wait a moment, Senpai!"

Before Ritsuka could say anything, Mash ran back into her room. After rummaging around with her dresser for a few moments, she exited her room again, this time locking the door behind her. She held a small, wooden box in her hands, about a foot long.

She ran up to him, looked down at the item, then offered it to him. "Please take this, Senpai. I found it in Thiers."

"That's so nice of you, thanks!" Ritsuka replied. He opened the box and was surprised to see a well-crafted knife resting on a small, red cushion. Its polished, wooden grip protruded from a black, leather sheath. The knife had a distinct smell of fresh leather to it.

It was beautiful. And she got this from Thiers? "How did you – no, when did you - ?"

"Do you like it, Senpai?" Mash asked, nervously fidgeting with her thumbs. "I overheard you talking about knives with Jeanne and Siegfried and…and I simply wanted to give you something. Do you – "

Wordlessly, Ritsuka reached out and wrapped his arms around Mash's shoulders, pulling her into a hug. "It's perfect. Thank you, Mash."

Her cheeks flushed with heat and she weakly stammered, "Ah…i-it was nothing S-Senpai. I w-wanted to leave m-money behind, but everybody was g-gone, so…"

"I'm sure the owners wouldn't mind," Ritsuka reassured her. He carefully took the sheathed knife and took off his belt. "Look at that, the sheath fits."

"I'm glad you like it, Senpai," Mash said with a hopeful look in her eyes. "I don't know if it will be useful, but…"

"At the very least, I can now make myself useful when we make camp," Ritsuka replied. "A knife can help out a dozen ways. Come on, we need to get ready for the Summoning ritual."

"Right, Senpai!"

Together, they headed towards the Summoning Chamber again. That would be Section A, the lynchpin of Chaldea's operations. When they approached the respective security checkpoint, however, Ritsuka immediately noticed that something was different. The last time they passed through here, it was just as empty and deserted as the one between B and C. This time however, when Ritsuka glanced at the window of the checkpoint, he found himself face to face with a dark-skinned man clad in a black uniform with blue patches. The man looked up from his console, spotted Ritsuka staring at him, then smiled.

"Senpai, is someone there?" Mash asked, quickly catching up to him and peering through the window as well.

The heavy, steel door to the right of the window opened. Ritsuka watched as the man exited the checkpoint and approached them. "Miss Kyrielight! It's good to see you're alright!" The tough-looking guard said, looking genuinely relieved. "And you must be the Master."

Ritsuka hesitated. His last confrontation in the History Department was still fresh on his mind. He wasn't sure if this was a good idea.

"Sergeant James Wilks," the man said, offering Ritsuka a large, scarred hand.

Ritsuka hesitantly took it. Sergeant Wilks had a gentle grip, as if he knew about his burns and lacerations. "Ritsuka Fujimaru."

He braced himself for the inevitable moment where the Sergeant would – rightfully – lash out at him for his failure.

However, much to his surprise, that moment never came.

"You've done a hell of a job out there, kid. You ought to be proud," the Sergeant told him, even nodding with approval.

Ritsuka stared at the man. That was _not _what he expected. "Oh, I…uhm…thank you, sir."

The man cocked an eyebrow. His eyes drifted towards the bandage on Ritsuka's cheek. "No need for formality. We're basically colleagues, so just call me James."

Another surprise. Sergeant Wilks looked to be in his late thirties, easily. Ritsuka wasn't sure how to feel about calling a senior colleague by his front name.

"Senpai, mister Wilks is the Chief of security," Mash said, practically beaming. "Normally, people would carry identification on them when they passed from one section to another. His team would ensure everything went smoothly."

Grief was an emotion Ritsuka had seen one too many times at Chaldea. He saw it rear its heavy head in the man across of him when Mash mentioned the team. He saw it in the way he sucked in a soft, too-sharp breath, and the way his hands stiffened.

A second later, however, the Sergeant had wiped all traces of grief away, and his face became a stoic façade.

"I'm not doing a whole lot of that anymore," James replied in a flat tone. "I'm working closely with the other people, these days. The checkpoints are just a formality at this point."

It was impressive, the way James could hide his emotions in the span of a heartbeat like that. Maybe, one day, he could teach him how to do that?

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mash stammered, realizing what she said. "I didn't mean – "

"Don't worry, that's alright," James quickly said. "Thanks to that asshole, we've _all _lost people. We're picking up the pieces where they lie. But, let me get out of your way. I'm willing to bet you've got places to be."

"We're heading for the Summoning Chamber," Ritsuka replied. "If everything goes right, things will get a lot busier these days."

"Hmm," James grunted. He scratched the stubble of his black hair. He nodded, then opened the door to the checkpoint again. "Good luck with that. Drop by if you need anything done."

"Will do," Ritsuka replied.

When the door closed again, Mash said, "Why does Chaldea need a security team?"

Shrugging, Ritsuka said, "I don't know. Maybe the Mages just argued a lot?"

"Maybe…"

Many of the Mages within Chaldea came from prestigious households. First-rate Mages brimming with talent, whose Magic Crests could be considered the pinnacle of complexity. To them, the bastardized amalgamation of science and Magecraft that was Chaldea would surely be heresy of the highest order.

However, the circular room that was to bear the fruition of said amalgamation contained but a fraction of the crew meant to observe the process. Of the four individuals present, only one could be deemed a first-rate Mage, and he was too engrossed in a conversation with an internet idol to really care.

"So who is Magi Mari anyway?" Ritsuka asked as he watched Roman flail about in the control room.

"Da Vinci said that she is a net idol on the internet," the Shielder tentatively explained. "I don't really understand it. Maybe she is a pop idol, but digital instead of real?"

"Even with the Earth's network gone?"

"Maybe that is the power of Chaldea's internet?"

Ritsuka highly doubted it. Then again, such technical things were beyond him. "Everyone has their own way of dealing with stress. Da Vinci, are we ready?"

The Caster genius standing next to Roman in the control room gave him a thumbs up.

His anticipation now mixing with a hint of nervousness, Ritsuka threw the lever. The centre of the room glowed a soft white before the collective energy from the generator complex thot through the large channels underneath the ground, before surging through the rest of the room. The enormous flow of energy collapsed into a floating orb of pale blue light. Ancient lines and signals formed an intricate and complex pattern across the floor, before the flow of energy formed a translucent, holographic replication of a cross.

Ritsuka and Mash held their breath as the summoning circle formed. The sphere floating in the centre crackled with power, then erupted into a torrent of energy

As sudden as it appeared, the holographic representation of the artefact flickered away again. The lights dimmed, then faded as the power shut down.

"_Summon process complete?"_ Roman's voice sounded through the intercom.

Well, there definitely wasn't a new Servant. What lay in the centre of the summoning chamber was a long and slender rapier-like sword. Its blade was more than a meter long, but the hilt was disproportionally short.

Ritsuka cocked an eyebrow at the strange weapon, before stepping towards the centre to pick it up.

"Senpai!" Mash warned. "Be careful!"

"_I can't believe it. That's a Black Key! It should be safe to pick up."_

The "Black Key" was thick and oddly balanced. Way heavier at the tip. Ritsuka got the vague impression that the weapon was more of a projectile than an actual sword.

"Is this a conceptual weapon? Something related to a Servant?" The Master asked, turning the Key over in his hands to get a better look.

"_Not really. They are used primarily by Church Enforcers as throwing weapons."_

"So it _is _a throwing weapon," Ritsuka commented.

"_It's not someone of your level can use, Ritsuka," _Roman said, half joking. At least, Ritsuka hoped so. "_To be honest, this entire thing is more of a disappointment than anything else."_

"I already have a good weapon," Ritsuka joked, patting the Thiers-forged knife at his belt. "What should we do with this then?"

Da Vinci laughed. "_In your hands, it might as well be a piece of art, Master-kun. You'd be better off using it as a paint brush."_

A piece of art, huh…

"I'll hang on to it for now," he replied. "Maybe Engineering has some use for this. Do we have enough power left for another summoning?"

"_With some small adjustments to the system, sure~!" _Da Vinci said in a singsong voice. "_Ready when you are."_

Ritsuka nodded in confirmation, before throwing the lever again. The grand ritual began anew. Unlike the last time however, the sphere that formed did not collapse. It whirled into a rainbow colour and expanded further into the room. With a thunderous crack, a single column of energy erupted from the floor. The room shook and the walls trembled as the river of prana washed through the room and collided with the reinforced ceiling. Arcs of electricity danced through the room and Ritsuka was forced to take a few steps back as the temperature rose to uncomfortable levels.

Pain stabbed through his abdomen as the summoning ritual approached its climax. It was a sickly feeling, like someone was scorching his insides with fire. It lasted for maybe a couple of a seconds, but it was definitely worse than when he summoned Lancer. Much worse.

As suddenly as the violence began, it died down again, reverting to a mall pillar of light. The bright glare of the manifested mana reached a more tolerable level, revealing a single, robe-clad individual standing amidst the fading light.

Ritsuka waited for the new arrival to gain their bearings, then carefully approached them.

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

The storm of mana slowly ebbed away while the chamber siphoned it to parts unknown. As her physical form materialized, she was briefly overwhelmed by a wave of foreign memories. They were incoherent at best; fragments of past summons and events. Lives lived and died in the span of days, weeks. Turmoil, feelings of love and greed and hatred.

Her reason for being here was equally fractured and uncertain. A single sentence echoed within her thoughts. It was a plea, a prayer.

_Save them. Save humanity. _

She set aside those shards of the past, for the present demanded her attention. The chamber she had been summoned in brimmed with power and potential. She also noted that she was not alone. Two human men, one female Servant – _another Caster? – _and a petite young woman she couldn't entirely place. Was she a human? A Servant? Her intuition told her that both were possible, so she remained on her guard.

Underneath her cowl, the Caster stared at the black-haired young man who had succeeded in summoning her. He seemed like a magus of the worst calibre, but his eyes gleamed with curiosity, devoid of animosity. Uncertain, yes, but not at all judging.

"Thank you for answering our summons!" He said. He smiled at her, an act which wouldn't be entirely free of pain if the bandaged gash in his face was anything to go by. "I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru. What is your name?"

Her…name? He summoned her without knowing who she was, without understanding _what _she was?

Her jaded mind filled in the blanks. She had been provided with the bare minimum of knowledge. Preserving the Human Order? With a Master like this? Clearly, the odds were against her yet again.

She glanced around the room, taking note of the overwhelming amount of energy contained within the structure. The human Mages had created a mixture of modern science and Magecraft to summon Servants in a different manner? This place was quite something.

The Servant glanced at the Master again. A weak magus or not, if he turned against her, she would dispose of him in an instant. He acted all friendly and considerate, but that was in the presence of these other people. She wondered how much was pretend. "I guess this is how it is. Caster will suffice."

He nodded. "Welcome to Chaldea. Caster. Up there in the control room are Doctor Roman and Da Vinci, our acting Director and Head of Technology Development Division, respectively."

He then turned to the girl by his side, who seemed to have been waiting for the opportunity to introduce herself. "My name is Mash Kyrielight. I will be working together with you in the future, so I am happy to meet you!"

The girl sounded genuine still, but Medea of Colchis did not respond in kind. She had experienced too much to let her guard down like that. Worse; this Mash Kyrielight was not just a human. Working together in the future? How laughable. At most Medea would be a tool for this Chaldea, to be discarded once humanity's future was secure.

And that was fine with her. She had no love for humanity.

With the introductions out of the way, the Master invited her to a quick tour of Chaldea. She could have easily mapped this modern workshop herself, but the opportunity to learn without gathering attention was too inviting. She agreed.

The total incineration of humanity was quite thorough. The Human Order was burning at all points in time, past, present and future. Every single point of history had been rendered to ashes. That this observatory had survived for so long was impressive, even to someone from the Age of the Gods. But an organization dedicated to the preservation of mankind should have a much greater complement. This facility was constructed like a mystic fortress and yet it lacked the people to even staff their kitchen.

What little staff they did encounter, looked ragged and exhausted. As they passed by, Medea wondered if they even realized she was there. Sometimes when they glanced at the boy and her, they seemed to stare at a point vastly _beyond_ them. Some of them sported burns and abrasions that were hastily patched up.

The Master told her about the layout of the observatory – the cafeteria, the library, the living quarters and all the other great divisions – but it was as if he wasn't putting his mind to it. His soul was somewhere else.

Much like the rest of the crew, she realized.

Medea passed by soot-covered walls, passageways blocked by rubble and collapsed walls. When the Master took a left at one of the intersections, she stopped. Every detail she spotted, told her that something terrible happened here. Eventually her curiosity won out, and she asked, "What happened here? Where is everyone?"

The boy glanced at her and shook his head. "I'm sorry, what did you say, Caster?"

He was a very average magus and recently went through a battle that likely did not go too well, so the Caster controlled her impatience. "Humanity's last bastion is in a very sorry state. Where is the rest of your people? How many are you?"

It was as if her question barely got through to him. The boy worked his jaw in silence, before casting his eyes downwards. "There is no 'rest' anymore, Caster," he replied in a quiet voice. "We're all that's left."

His response made her hackles rise. "Then what happened here? Explain yourself!"

He looked blankly at her for a couple of moments, before giving her a little half-shrug. "We uh…we were betrayed…by one of our own. Yeah, this guy, he uh…planted bombs all over Chaldea. Used to be two-hundred people working here. Forty-seven other Master candidates, too. You're looking at all that's left."

_Betrayed. _

A thick feeling stopped the breath in Medea's throat. She was frozen, her mind focused on that one word the boy just uttered. Did they know who she was? Did they know what she had done – what she would do again, if given even the slightest provocation?

Medea hid the turmoil within her and stared stoically at the boy, who had not even noticed the lap in her concentration. He stared at a point in the wall, his gaze blank. One of his fingers twitched a little as he recounted what happened.

His voice trailed off into silence. He took a deep breath and looked back at the Caster again, He smiled again, but it looked off. Crooked. "I'm sorry, we're still getting things together. It's a mess, but everyone's trying their best to make it work. Are you familiar with the Holy Grail?"

Medea met his crooked smile with a little smirk of her own. Clearly, this event had damaged the young magus. She felt no sympathy towards him; she was an anti-hero whose life ultimately came to revolve around betrayal. But the chances of this boy – or anyone else for that matter - scheming against her seemed insignificant. "The Holy Grail, yes. Hmmm. Well, I'm sure the likes of normal Mages like you would probably find it quite useful."

The boy gave a short, bitter laugh. "Useful? Our mission is to gather the damned things so that we can restore history. What happens with them afterwards is isn't my concern."

Hmm…Medea did not see that one coming. But she did like the look that the boy sported. It seemed that he took his position seriously after all.

Nonetheless, he was a fool for discarding the great power that lay within the Holy Grail.

"Our enemy scattered several Holy Grails throughout history. Doctor Roman and Da Vinci think there were seven of them. So far we've gathered one already. Once we locate the next one, we'll deploy and get it back," he continued.

"Really?" Medea replied. She should not be mocking her new Master in these desperate circumstances, but she could not help it. Chaldea was in no position to do anything; their infrastructure was falling apart and so was their staff. "And how do you plan on do that?"

Another half-shrug followed. "That's why we need the help of the Servants. Mash is giving it her all, but there are situations she just can't handle. That's where you and Lancer come in."

_A Lancer-class Servant? _

These other Servants were a concern. The boy had willingly revealed the identity of Leonardo Da Vinci, the great inventor, but this Lancer was an unknown. "And this Lancer? Who is he?"

"I was actually looking for him not too long ago," he replied. "When we meet him, you can introduce yourself to him, if you want."

He dodged her question. So he wasn't a complete imbecile, then. That was good. "One more thing. This person who betrayed you…what will you do once you find him?"

Medea saw a new expression on the boy's face now. Grimmer, more resolute, more hateful. "It's not me he betrayed," he replied.

And that was that, considering he didn't say more on the matter. Although, with his look, it was not hard to imagine what would happen should he be reunited with this man.

_Not an imbecile indeed_, Medea thought.

~(+~0~+)~

* * *

**AN: **_First off, I want to thank everyone who took the time to review, follow or favourite this story so far. _

_Next, there is the matter of developing this story's Chaldea. Since this story is effectively a grimmer take on the main story, I wanted to take the time to show how everything affects Chaldea's staff, especially since the ramifications of the sabotage were somewhat glossed over in-lore. The problem is, we don't actually have any named staff until the Lostbelt era. That means creating and fleshing out characters from scratch, which is going to be hard._


End file.
